


Crash Landing

by CynicalPudding



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Thanos, Banter is my kink, FrostIron - Freeform, I repeat Loki is an asshole, M/M, Odin’s A+ Parenting, Shitty Summary, Slow Burn, fight me, i cant handle character death, infinity war fix-it fic, loki is an asshole, summaries are not my kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2019-10-15 14:26:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17530412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalPudding/pseuds/CynicalPudding
Summary: “Thor Odinson,” Amora greeted with a catlike grin, waving a hand in the air to shut off the alarms. “It has been a while.”“Enchantress,” Thor glowered, reaching out for his hammer before realising his mistake and clenching his fists.“So,” she continued, looking over her nails, “I heard talk that Asgard has fallen. I must admit I’m quite upset I couldn’t be there to see it.”Thor squared his shoulders, unconsciously moving to stand protectively between Loki and Amora.“You well know that bringing down the golden realm was, let’s say, an ambition of mine; especially after Odin’s cruel and unjust banishment. Ah well. I suppose taking out what remains of the Aesir will serve me well enough.”





	1. Chapter 1

“Rerun diagnostics,” Tony said, eyes flitting across the HUD as Friday triple checked his suit.  
  
_“All systems are functioning. Are you sure about this, Mr. Stark?”_  
  
“Absolutely, Friday. I’ve been working on these calculations for a year and I’m positive that this won’t end in disaster. Probably. Let’s go!”  
  
Friday initiated a countdown. Tony did one final manual check, just to make absolutely certain that everything was in place. He activated his repulsors, taking a deep breath as he rose off the ground, hovering in place.  
  
_“5, 4, 3, 2, 1,”_ Friday counted off.  
  
At one, Tony brought his hand to his left wrist, pressing in the button installed there and twisting. His arc reactor seemed to buzz in his chest piece, glowing a brilliant bright blue.  
  
He watched in wonder as his surroundings warped out of focus. Suddenly, his skin felt almost too hot, on the borderline of unbearable. White streaks filled his vision. He could feel his suit shaking with effort, just barley steady enough. He felt as if he was being suffocated, his body being pressed in by an intense pressure on every side.  

  
All at once, the feeling stopped and he sucked in a long breath of artificial air, taking in his surroundings. He laughed in shock as he was met with the blackness of space, speckled with billions and trillions of stars. He had done it.  
  
“Holy shit. I achieved light speed travel,” he whispered to himself, in awe of his own genius. His celebration was brief as a strong wave of nausea washed over him.  
  
“Oh no,” he groaned, holding back the urge to vomit. “Oh lightspeed does not do a body good. Friday, where in space are we?” he said shakily, taking deep breaths as the feeling began to ebb away, leaving behind some minor intestinal discomfort and muscle fatigue.  
  
“Fri, I don’t recognise any of these constellations. Are we still in the Milky Way?”  
  
After a moment of silence, Tony realised that his HUD didn’t seem to indicate Friday’s presence.  
  
“Friday?” Tony called, feeling more nauseous than before. “Oh no no no no. Fuck!”  
  
Tony tried his best to think rationally, but the utter shock and panic of being alone in outer space was all he could focus on. He was so distracted that he only spotted the asteroid hurtling toward him when it was too late.  
  
“SHIT!” Tony screamed as he was knocked back by the impact, the heat of it burning him even through his armor. He tried to activate his repulsors, but they only sputtered before going out almost completely, leaving him helplessly soaring at a reckless speed through space.  
  
Tony closed his eyes as his suits arc reactor dimmed.  
  
He was probably going to die.  
  
………

  
Thor felt a sense of emptiness as he made his way through the quiet corridors of the arc, the wounds still fresh from losing his father and then Asgard in such quick succession. He silently thanked the norns as he watched his brother, who hadn’t disappeared yet, leading a small group of wounded citizens towards the makeshift medical wing.

After everything that had happened, he never expected to be able to fully trust his brother again, but it brought joy to his heavy heart that Loki seemed to be there to stay.

Thor walked into the place they had made their council room, nodding as he passed an exiting Heimdall. He stepped up the single step to stand before the viewport, taking in the sight of increasingly unfamiliar stars as they oh so slowly moved across and out of view.

Thor jumped as a hand touched his shoulder, looking over to see Loki standing beside him.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” Thor commented, relaxing as much as he’d allow himself to.

Loki smiled minutely in response, motioning for them to sit on the step. Thor followed without words, concern twisting in his gut.

“Those who were wounded are being healed now. We’ve managed to take down everyone’s name and past job on this,” Loki held out a piece of parchment. “There’s 268 Asgardians left on this arc.”

The statement hit Thor hard, a feeling of utter sadness washing over him. He distracted himself by glancing over the list, reading Loki’s neat handwriting.

“All of these people are farmers and the like. Are all of our warriors gone?”

“I’m told they were among the first to die by Hela’s hand,” Loki said, standing and beginning to pace.

“Do you really think that Midgard will welcome us, Thor? They seem reluctant even to allow refugees of their own kind in certain places.”

“I believe they will,” Thor nodded, his tone completely confident. “We don’t exactly have many other choices.”

After a moment of thoughtful silence, Loki sighed wearily, interlocking his fingers behind his neck and leaning back against the wall.

“Perhaps I should make myself scarce before we touch down. You might have a better chance-“

“Loki,” Thor started, cutting the other man off with a pointed look from his one piercing blue eye.

“Well think about it, Thor. My last visit to Midgard wasn’t exactly well received. I don’t suppose they’ll appreciate my presence terribly.”

Thor rose, approaching Loki and placing his hand on his brothers leather clad shoulder.

“If it were not for you, no one on this ship would be here now. You put aside our past differences, you pushed past your fears, and you saved us all. You’re a hero.”

“Tell that to your Avengers,” Loki laughed humourlessly, looking down at the floor with an almost bitter smile.

Thor frowned, placing his hand firmly on Loki’s neck over his own hands. His brother’s green eyes met his, the familiar gesture almost seeming to calm him.

“Loki, what you have done in your past, you have more than made up for in my eyes,” Thor stated, placing his other hand on Loki’s shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.

A smile stretched across Loki’s features and Thor knew exactly what he would say next.

“Don’t you mean your eye,” they said at the same time, Thor shaking his head with a look of fondness.

“Brother, I swear to you that I will keep you safe just as you’ve done for me. My comrades will not raise a hand against you.”

Loki opened his mouth, most likely to argue, when Banner rushed in through the door with a panicked look in his eyes.

“You two need to see this,” he gasped, trying to catch his breath.

Thor followed Banner along the corridors towards the bridge, Loki just behind. When they reached their destination, Banner went to stand beside a concerned Heimdall, allowing Thor and Loki to step forward.

Thor’s gaze swept across the viewport, taking in the sight of a large glowing green barrier surrounding them, keeping them from maintaining their coarse.

“Magic,” Loki whispered, his face growing pale at the sight.

“Do you perhaps recognise who it belongs to?” Thor whispered, the green glow utterly unnerving. The colour was almost sickly with glittering black specs that twisted in minute swirling patterns.

“I think I do. But I can’t understand how she would’ve found us,” Loki said, summoning his daggers and helmet.

Suddenly, the bridge was filled with a blinding light of the same sickly acid green of the barrier. Thor covered his eye, wincing as the ship’s alarms began blaring.

All at once the light vanished, leaving behind a figure standing proudly in the middle of the deck.

“Thor Odinson,” Amora greeted with a catlike grin, waving a hand in the air to shut off the alarms. “It has been a while.”

“Enchantress,” Thor glowered, reaching out for his hammer before realising his mistake and clenching his fists.

“So,” she continued, looking over her nails, “I heard talk that Asgard has fallen. I must admit I’m quite upset I couldn’t be there to see it.”

Thor squared his shoulders, unconsciously moving to stand protectively between Loki and Amora.

“You well know that bringing down the golden realm was, let’s say, an ambition of mine; especially after Odin’s cruel and unjust banishment. Ah well. I suppose taking out what remains of the Aesir will serve me well enough.”

“You may as well move along, Witch. You are outmatched by far,” Loki said easily, twirling one of his daggers with a cocky smirk.

“Oh, am I?” Amora hissed, lifting a hand and flexing her fingers as acid green magic began to twist around the digits like snakes.

“The funny thing about banishment is that it gives you ample time; more time than you know with what to do,” she continued, the magic growing as it rose from her hand into the air and disappeared.

“I used that time to learn and grow my magic. I know things that you could never dream of knowing. I have harnessed power that the Allfather could not have dreamt of knowing.”

A chill ran down Thor’s spine at her words while Loki simply scoffed.

“Like what,” Loki challenged. Thor tensed further at the look of poisonous glee in Amora’s eyes before she raised both hands and, with a flash of magic, everyone on the bridge froze in place.

Thor struggled against the invisible bonds as Amora laughed sinisterly.

“You have always triumphed over me in the past, Loki. You’ve always been more powerful, more cunning; but not this time,” she said with a smirk, approaching him like a predator stalking prey.

“This time, I take my revenge for your betrayal on Midgard. This time, it is my turn to make a fool of you! How does it feel to finally have been beaten?”

Thor watched as many micro expressions crossed Loki’s face, too many to understand. Everyone on the bridge was becoming frantic as they all struggled to move, but they held their collective breath when Loki smiled.

“I’m not sure. It hasn’t happened yet,” Loki stated, raising his hands and sending a blast of his own green magic at the startled Enchantress.

Amora threw up her own hands with a yelp as the magic surrounded her completely, dissipating into nothing. Loki whispered a spell under his breath, golden light swirling around the bridge and slowly going about unfreezing each Asgardian.

Thor smiled as Loki approached him.

“Where did you send her?” he inquired as he waited for the magic to reach him.

“Back to her little pocket of empty space. I wonder if she’ll ever learn,” Loki said with a grin.

Thor opened his mouth to respond when a flash of green caught his attention and Amora appeared once more behind Loki, reaching a hand around with unreal speed and pressing it against his heart, holding his throat with the other.

Loki froze, his face going deathly pale. Amora’s hands glowed gold as she spoke in an ancient tongue not even Allspeak could recognise. Loki’s body jerked as if he were in pain, struggling against the magical bonds.

Thor’s eyes flickered to Amora’s hand as they began to go from gold their typical sickly green, the light slowly seeping into the skin of Loki’s neck. The light traveled through his veins, gathering in his heart for a moment before enveloping his entire body.  
  
Loki opened his mouth in a silent scream as Amora twisted her hand over his heart in a motion reminiscent of turning a key. Loki collapsed to the ground in a heap, his armour dematerialising as the green glow faded. He suddenly looked sickly; defeated.  
  
“Thor,” he rasped, his hand shakily reaching out before dropping.  
  
Thor felt the tears threatening to pour as he willed himself to move, but the magic was too strong. He could only watch as Amora began chanting softly to herself, light once again engulfing Loki’s barely conscious form. He closed his eyes against the harsh light for only a moment, but when he opened them his brother was gone.

“What have you done with him, you Witch,” Thor spat, his heart racing as he stared at the spot where Loki had been not moments ago.

“I’ve given him what he deserves, my darling Thor,” she said with a smirk. “I shall do the same for you. But not today. First I must deal with your pesky brother once and for all.”

Her eyes searched through the terrified faces of the Asgardians, landing on one in particular.

“Skurge, is it?” she inquired, twirling a finger and sending a small bit of magic toward him. Skurge gasped as he was freed from the binding magic, slowly nodding his head as his eyes flashed green.

“Good. You’ll be coming with me. We have work to do,” she said with a grin, looking back to Thor and blowing a kiss before disappearing with an enthralled Skurge.

All at once, everyone was released totally from their bonds, some falling to the ground and weeping in fear. Thor clenched his fists, looking out of the viewport as the barrier disappeared.

Thor finally allowed his tears to fall, feeling utterly empty.

………


	2. Chapter 2

Tony’s eyes snapped open.   
  
The very first thing he registered was how much in that moment his body ached. Every muscle burned horribly. He felt as if his nerves were on fire.   
  
The next thing he registered was that he was freezing cold; colder than he’d ever been in his life.   
  
Though every single part of his body begged him not to, Tony attempted to move. He screamed with the effort, but found that he couldn’t budge.   
  
He let his eyes flicker over his surroundings; what he could still see of them. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes took in the blankness of open space.

  
His eyes moved downward across his suit to see his arc reactor had completely gone out, and with it his control of the nanites. He let out a shaky breath as tears began to well up in his eyes. He had no plan, no clever way to cheat death. He was well and truly screwed.

Tony had no idea how long it had been since his collision with the asteroid. He had no idea where he was, he was running out of air, and he was at a very real risk of freezing to death.

“And there’s that panic attack. Fucking swell,” he whispered to himself, his voice quivering.

He opened his eyes wearily, glancing at the ocean of stars around him. He supposed if he was going to die, at least he’d go out with a nice view.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed the odd flash of light in the distance. He couldn’t tell how far ahead of him it was. He watched in utter fascination and confusion as something came tumbling out of the light, flying towards him at a rather intimidating speed, the light disappearing behind it just as quickly as it had come.

His eyes widened considerably when he realised that it was a person tumbling helplessly through the vacuum of space just as he was, but without a suit to keep him safe.

He wasn’t quite prepared for it when the collision came, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying backwards at an unreal speed. His vision whited out; he couldn’t see or hear anything. He couldn’t feel anything aside from overwhelming heat.

Then the feeling of free fall surrounded by utter nothingness shook Tony to the core. His hands scrambled for something to hold on to, his panicked senses reeling. He held onto the solid form in front of him, squeezing as if his life depended on it.    
  
The air changed suddenly, his suit humming. His eyes snapped open at a familiar voice.   
  
_“Mr. Stark. Engaging emergency thrusters.”_   
  
“Friday!” Tony exclaimed, taking in the black starry night sky above him. “Familiar constellations. I’m back on Earth. Thank fuck,” he rasped, just speaking taking too much effort.   
  
Tony shook out of his thoughts as his descent came to a rather sudden halt, the wings shooting out of the back of his suit to stabilize him. He gasped as the limp figure previously in his arms slipped from his grip.   
  
Without a second thought, Tony dove toward them.   
  
“Friday! We need to go faster!” he yelled as he reached out for the figure while they hurtled toward the fast approaching ground below.   
  
“Diverting 68% power to thrusters,” Friday said.   
  
“Come on,” Tony pleaded, reaching as far out as he could. With a shout of victory, Tony managed to grab them around their waist, pulling them up and sliding an arm under their knees.

He allowed Friday to take over, landing him safely in the middle of a vast green valley.

Tony carefully set the person down in the grass, retracting the wings before falling back onto the ground himself. He suddenly felt claustrophobic in his suit, his shaking hand pressing frantically at his chest piece. He sighed in relief when his suit retracted into the arc reactor, leaving him in his sweat soaked under armour.

An ear-piercing squawk seemed to echo impossibly loud through the empty air, pulling him from his moment of relief. He managed with no little effort to push himself up just enough to see a gigantic raven standing proudly beside the strange persons unconscious form.

He looked over the enormous bird, his mind trying its best to catch up to current events.

“What, are you the Toto to Space Dorothy here?” Tony joked. The raven blinked at him and Tony had the utterly disturbing feeling that the bird understood him. He watched it closely as it hopped over to the unconscious person, almost seeming to check them over.

“Bullshit,” he stated, rubbing his sweaty face and shaking his head. “I’ve gone space crazy. Friday, call my therapist,” he said into his watch.

Before Tony could speak again, the giant bird shot into the sky, disappearing into the clouds with a loud caw.

“Ok…” Tony breathed to himself, taking a moment to just process what had happened before glancing back down to the pale stranger on the ground before him.

He reached out carefully, pushing the long black hair out of the strangers face. Tony froze, thoughts stuttering to a halt as wide eyes, shockingly green, snapped open and met his and he launched himself to a standing position, resummoning his suit around him.

“You!” he exclaimed, charging a repulsor and aiming it at a very alive and very pissed Loki.

“You,” the God of Mischief himself snarled back. With only a moment's pause, Loki was on his feet, his teeth bared in a way that reminded Tony immediately of a Jaguar.   


“If you have any self preservation to speak of, you will back away now, Avenger. ” he snapped, his hands raised threateningly in an almost mirror image of Tony’s position.

“You’re threatening me? I just saved your life!” Tony stated, trying not to sound indignant as he stood his ground. “Big mistake there.”

  
Loki scoffed at him, rolling his eyes. “Saved my life? You think a fall like that could kill me?” he snapped back. Tony could see even from there that his entire body was shaking.

“Well, considering it was literally a fall from straight up outer space, yes I do.”

“I’ve had worse,” he growled, advancing on Tony with a ferocity Tony was quite frankly intimidated by.

  
“Easy. Just, hold on there for a moment, Rock of Ages,” Tony said, following Loki’s movements with his repulsors. The god advanced on him still, holding up his own hands again in a way that reminded Tony vaguely of a character from Star Wars.

“I have not the time nor the tolerance for this,” he spat as he flexed his long fingers, his green gaze boring holes through Tony’s HUD. His intimidating demeanour dropped rather abruptly however when his palms flashed acid green and he dropped to the ground, crying out in pain.

Tony, for his part, stayed utterly silent as he watched Loki force himself to his feet.

“What is happening?” he whispered, staring at his shaking hands as if affronted by their uncooperative behaviour.

“Performance issues there, Alice Cooper?” Tony couldn’t help but chuckle out, the display far too amusing to take seriously.

In a flash, Loki had him by the neck, lifting him, suit and all, off of the ground. His body went rigid as the man glared poisonously at him before grunting as he slammed him down into the hard ground.

Tony groaned in pain as his injured body jostled in his damaged suit, recovering quickly enough to dodge a blow from Loki that sent chunks of earth flying.

“Where did he get _daggers_ from,” Tony hissed aloud, firing up a few feet into the air before the repulsor jetpack mounted on his right boot sputtered and died.

“Fuck!” Tony cursed as he crashed back toward the ground, quickly rolling to his feet. “Friday, activate the shoulder angel.”

With a soft hiss, the shoulder mounted anti-personnel guns emerged from the suit and began firing off at the snarling god.

Loki bobbed and weaved with the ease of one who has had centuries of practice. Tony was beginning to get frustrated when a shot finally hit its target, connecting with Loki’s hip and sending him to the ground.

Tony let out a long sigh of relief when Loki didn’t seem to be ready to move immediately, slowly lowering his hands.

“Took you long enough. I was beginning to wonder if I should step in,” a voice said, startling Tony back into his previous defensive position, repulsors charged and ready.

“Who the shit are you,” Tony questioned, watching as a tall man with a goatee and a grimace stepped out of some kind of golden portal, his cape flapping animatedly behind him though there was no breeze.

“Doctor Stephen Strange, Earth's resident Sorcerer Supreme,” the man greeted almost boredly, waving a hand to close the portal behind him.

“Why are you here?”

Strange huffed in annoyance, raising a single finger and flicking it downward. Tony grunted in surprise when his arms were forcefully lowered to his sides.

“I’m here for him,” he stated, nodding towards Loki’s crumpled form, only just beginning to regain consciousness. “I sensed his magical signature, though it’s significantly weaker than it was the last time we met.”

Strange tapped his mantle, the lively cape calming its fluttering at his beckoning. Satisfied, he walked past Tony towards Loki as the god began to stir.

“Now, where is your brother?” he inquired as if speaking to a child, not so much as blinking when Loki shot him a deadly glare and struggled to his feet.

“What does that matter to you, mortal,” Loki spat, holding his injured side with an almost animalistic expression.

“Your brother and I made an arrangement. You were not to return to Earth unless you were accompanied by Thor. So, I’ll ask you again; where is Thor?”

Loki’s expression grew dark, the only warning he gave before pouncing toward Strange like a jungle cat. With unbelievably swift movements, Strange opened a portal on the ground just before Loki reached him, the enraged god falling through it with a yell.

“What did you do to him?” Tony asked, startled as he glanced around for any sign of Loki.

Strange pointed skyward with a barely noticeable smirk. Slowly, Tony looked up just in time to see a portal open, a scream getting closer and closer before he was knocked to the hard ground, Loki splayed out on top of him.

“Are you done? I do have other matters to attend to,” Strange said impatiently, flicking his finger to close the portal above them.

“What do you want,” Loki ground out, sounding defeated and pained as he stumbled off of Tony, struggling a bit to stand up straight as blood trickled from where his hand covered his wound.

“I want you to leave this planet. If you wish to return, you need to have a chaperone, namely your brother.”

“I can’t…” Loki started, clenching his teeth as if his words were causing physical pain. “I cannot leave. I am… unable to access my magic without… unsavory consequences.”

“What?” Strange asked, his tone sharp with frustrated confusion.

“Don’t you think if I were able I would’ve left a while ago? It was that witch. Whatever she’s done has made it so that I cannot tap into my magic without significant pain,” Loki reiterated, looking for all the world like he’d rather die than admit to his dilemma.

“What witch?” Tony questioned, retracting his helmet. “What exactly is going on here?” he demanded, taking a short step closer to the god but swiftly retreating at a poisonous look, hands raised in a sign of peace.

“Before my appearance here, I was on an Arc with the remainder of Asgard. We were heading here to find a place to settle if any place would have us-“

“The remainder of Asgard?” Tony cut in. Loki shot him a glare for the interruption, but continued with a nod.

“Asgard has been destroyed in a battle between the Fire Giant Surtur and my- Thor’s estranged sister, Hela.”

“So Thor is 0 for 2 when it comes to non-evil siblings,” Tony said.

“So this Witch. What did she do to you?” Strange asked before Loki could snap back at Tony.

“She appeared on the ship and boasted of learned abilities that I could never wield. I doubted her, but… she cast some sort of curse on my magic and sent me through a portal. Everything after that, Stark has been present for.”

Strange looked thoughtful, steepling his fingers at his chin and pacing with that ridiculous cape fluttering behind him.

“Why were you singled out? And do you think she did the same with Thor?” Tony inquired, watching several microexpressions cross Loki’s face at those words.

“I’ve always stopped her plots in the past. She needed me away from Thor, and I’m sure she wanted revenge for what I’ve done to her. With my magic inaccessible to me, Amora believes that she’ll finally be able to take Thor for herself.”

Tony made a face of disgust, looking to the still silent Strange as he stopped in his tracks.

“Amora the Enchantress?” he said, looking to Loki with an intense gaze. Loki only nodded in answer.

“I know her,” Strange stated with a frown. “She’s been causing me some issues in the past year trying her best to get her hands on certain artifacts. We were close to tracking her down a month ago when she went completely off the grid.”

Loki looked more annoyed than anything at the revelation. “I suppose she was freed from exile upon Odin’s death and felt the power surge of Hela’s reemergence. From there, she built up her strength until the perfect opportunity to strike presented itself.”

“You say she needs you out of the way. Do you think she’ll come back to finish you off, or would she be confident that you couldn’t break her curse?” Strange inquired.

Tony held back a laugh at Loki’s eyeroll, getting a quick glare from Strange regardless.

“She knows better than to assume she is safe while I’m alive, with or without my magic. She will most certainly be back.”

Strange looked to Tony thoughtfully, his eyes squinting. Tony felt distinctly uneasy in that moment, questioningly meeting the unusual sorcerers gaze.

Strange nodded as if coming to a conclusion, beginning to make small and precise hand motions that created an intricate mandala of golden magic. “Then it’s decided. I will watch out for Amora while Loki works to break her curse. Stark, you will keep Loki under your constant supervision. Don’t let him leave your sight.”

“Wait, what?” Tony stuttered, not entirely sure he heard correctly.

Completely ignoring him, Strange turned instead to Loki, drawing a large circle around the golden lines he had created and pushing it towards him. Loki looked positively offended when it hit him, the golden lines of the mandala shining brightly on his pale skin before slowly fading into nothing.

“I warn you not to overstep, mortal,” Loki growled, further affronted when Strange raised a hand to silence him.

“It was a protection spell. I’ll also put another protection spell over the safe house itself. I will be checking in every now and again to make sure it holds up, but understand that I will be very busy.”

“Listen, I don’t do well with orders, Doc; even more so when they mean babysitting a psychopath,” Tony said stubbornly, taking a step toward the frustratingly unfazed sorcerer.

“You don’t have a choice,” Strange said, holding up his hands and creating two circles with his fingers. Before Tony could shoot back an insult, he was falling through a portal.

He opened his eyes, he hadn’t remembered closing them, when he felt solid ground under his boots again. He was in his home in Malibu. It still smelled distinctly smoky and too new, though it had been awhile since it was rebuilt.

His head snapped up at a sound nearby, glancing over at the exact moment that Loki fell through a portal on the ceiling, landing with an “oof” on the white couch before the portal closed.

“I hate that guy,” Tony sighed.

“Something we agree on,” Loki replied.

That had definitely not gone the way he’d expected.

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys! The response to this story was really nice! Your comments inspired me to get through my writers block. 
> 
> The next chapter should be out soon. I’m tryin my best to keep the updates as close together as possible!
> 
> ~Cynical


	3. Chapter 3

Thor stared out of the viewport, straight out at the place the magical border once occupied. He should’ve seen this coming. After Loki and Amora’s little teamup leading to the attack on New York, when Amora was exiled to some small barren pocket of space somewhere in the universe by his father. She had sworn revenge then. She had claimed that she would see Asgard burn. He should’ve seen this coming.

He didn’t spare a glance as Banner approached, just continuing to stare into the star speckled blackness.

“Are you ok?” Bruce asked softly, stopping to stand just behind him and crossing his arms awkwardly.

Thor huffed a humourless laugh, shaking his head.

“He was finally going to stay. I told him I would keep him safe as long as he was by my side, and that Witch wrenched him from me.”

“Is he…” Bruce trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

“No,” Thor said confidently, finally turning to look at the very nervous scientist. “He’s still alive. Now that she’s separated us, I expect Amora is gathering her strength to take him out for good so that she can deal with us.”

Bruce tried to look sympathetic. Thor could not fault him for his lack of genuine concern for Loki, especially after all they’d been through.

“So… what do we do now?” he asked, twisting the stretched out sleeve of his borrowed shirt around his fingers.

Thor smiled as honestly as he could, patting his strange companion on the shoulder. “We shall continue to Midgard, but we must be wary. If she does manage to get the better of Loki, she will be nearly impossible to stop.”

“Wait, then why are we still going to earth. Whatever she did to Loki seemed to weaken him considerably. What if he’s unable to fight back and she defeats him for good? We’ll be walking right into her trap.”

“We must not lose faith, friend,” Thor said, hugging Banner with one arm as he stared once more out of the viewport. “Loki is never truly helpless and can be quite level headed when he must be.”

………

Loki grunted in utter frustration as he once again slammed his shoulder ineffectually into the front door, bouncing off and rolling his shoulder with a loud pop.

“This is ridiculous. You’re just going to tire yourself out,” Tony said, watching blankly as Loki simply backed up and ran at it again for a seventh time.

“What are you hoping to achieve?” Tony inquired, hardly flinching back at Loki’s glare.

“Obviously, I am trying to get out of here,” Loki said through gritted teeth, charging once again like a battering-ram.

“Did you try actually turning the knob to open the door instead of going straight for property damage?”

“Of course I did, you imbecile! It. Won’t. Open!” he ground out, each word punctuated with a bang as he slammed his shoulder into the door.

“Move,” Tony said, approaching the frustrated god against his better judgement and moving between him and the door.

He turned the knob and pulled and, sure enough, the door opened.

Loki blinked, staring at the now open doorway. Tony tried not to look smug as he closed the door, motioning for Loki to try.

Loki reached out, twisting the knob just as Tony had and pulling to absolutely no effect.

“Weird. I guess that’s a part of Strange’s spell?”

“That half-baked mortal can’t keep me locked up for long! I am getting out of here and away from _you_ so you can’t get me killed before I can get back to Thor,” he finished before going back to his attempts to break through the door.

“Look, even if the house wasn’t apparently enchanted, you still probably couldn’t break that down. Every door and even most of the furniture, the bar, the coffee table, is made from Verawood. It’s one of the hardest woods in the world.”

Loki stared at Tony for a moment before stiffly walking to the round coffee table. He considered it for a moment before kicking his leg up high and driving his heel down right into the centre of the table. The crack echoed through the room and Tony watched as his coffee table broke completely in half.

“… Touché,” he said after a moment.

Loki looked utterly smug before moving to return to the door.

“Open it,” he said. “And we’ll never have to deal with one another again.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tony shrugged, opening the door and motioning for Loki to go through.

“I feel like I’m kicking out a one night stand.”

“I would say it’s been fun, but it hasn’t,” Loki shot back, taking a deep breath before walking out of the door…

And emerging through the doorway to the kitchen.

“What,” he whispered to himself as Tony looked on in surprise.

With a determined glare, Loki sprinted back through the still open front door, skidding slightly as he entered back into the house once again through the elevator doors.

“It wasn’t just a spell to keep you from opening the doors. You can’t leave without me,” Tony said, a heavy sinking feeling in his gut.

“That sorry excuse for a sorcerer does not have the authority to keep me here!” Loki snapped, turning towards Tony with a furious look in his eye.

“Listen,” Tony said with a sigh. “I know this probably isn’t what you want; I sure as hell don’t want it, but you seem to be stuck with me.”  
  
Loki frowned, staring at the ground as he contemplated Tony’s words. He looked to be struggling with making a decision, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Tony approached him, holding out his armoured hand.  
  
“How about we agree to a truce? Since I’m feeling particularly charitable, I’ll let you take one of my guest rooms to recuperate and you can give me a detailed account of what has happened since Thor dragged your ass back to Asgard. We can formulate a plan from there. Or, even better, I’ll wake up after a long rest and you’ll be gone because all of today was probably some type of hallucination or fever dream. I don't know. We’ll see how it goes.”  
  
Loki’s eyes shifted up to bore into his own. With a look of deep thought that very suddenly shifted into clear anger, Loki reeled back before slamming his fist into the side of Tony’s head.  
  
In the blink of an eye, Tony was on the ground, feeling ever-so-slightly dazed. He raised his hand to the point of impact, feeling the unmistakable slickness of blood slowly dripping down from his temple to his sideburn.  
  
“Ow,” he groaned as he pushed himself up, wobbling only slightly before standing completely. “Ok, maybe we started off on the wrong-”

Loki spun quickly, kicking Tony hard in his armoured gut and sending him directly back onto the floor.

“-Foot…” Tony groaned, rolling onto his hands and knees to try and get up when he felt Loki’s boot slam down on his back, pinning him down like an insect.  
  
His damaged suit whirred pathetically as he attempted to wrestle out from under Loki’s foot, but Loki stayed fast to his position, digging his heel into the middle of Tony’s back and unsheathing a dagger from his boot. Tony gulped as the tip was pressed lightly against his neck.  
  
“Now, listen closely, whelp,” he spat. “You’re lucky I happen to need someone who is well acquainted with this realm, or I would not hesitate to kill you.”  
  
“I believe you,” Tony groaned in response, finally ceasing his futile struggling.  
  
“My situation being what it is, I propose an agreement. For as long as you prove useful to me, I’ll keep you alive. That means allowing me the space and solitude I need to break this curse.”  
  
“That sounds great,” Tony shot back flatly, his face squished uncomfortably against the marble tile. “Sounds like a great truce.”  
  
Loki laughed humourlessly. “Do not think of this as a truce; think of it more as a postponement of my gutting you like a fish should you make one wrong move. Let this moment serve as a reminder that I can best you even without my magic.”

  
With a stiff nod from Tony, Loki stepped away, allowing the other man to get up.  
  
“It was the charity line, wasn’t it?” Tony asked, cracking his neck with a groan.

Loki didn’t answer, spinning his dagger with experienced fingers and sheathing it back into the hidden spot in his boot.

“Alright. Per our truce, I’ll show you to a room,” Tony said, brushing his fingers over his arc reactor. “Now, if I take off my suit, do you promise not to pull anything?”

Loki raised his hands in a sign of peace, so Tony retracted his suit, breathing a sigh of relief at the loss of that deadweight. He tried to ignore how gross he felt, though he could smell himself now. He resolved to take a shower the second he could.

“Alright. Let’s go,” he said, motioning for Loki to follow him. He pressed the button for the elevator, stepping inside and moving to allow Loki in. The two stood as far apart as physically possible, Loki holding his side with an unreadable expression.

Tony let his eyes drift to the blood shining wetly on leather. He contemplated speaking when the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

Tony silently lead Loki along a rounding walkway, floor to ceiling windows on either side displaying a magnificent view over the cliffside. Tony stopped in front of a large door at the end of the hall, motioning to it.

  
“You can use this room,” he said, pushing open the large door and allowing Loki to step inside. Tony followed him, leaving the door open behind them.    
  
The room was huge with a small living area to the immediate left furnished with a black leather armchair, a plush white fur rug, and a gigantic almost overflowing bookcase. Loki walked immediately to the bookcase, running long fingers over the spines of the books almost reverently.  
  
He turned to look to his right, stepping up the single stair onto the platform towards a giant bed with deep blue silk sheets and a white fur pelt laid across the bottom half. Loki smoothed his hand over the fur thoughtfully, looking almost fond of it.  
  
“This room was furnished for Pep- uh… for someone else. I guessed you might be used to furs and pelts what with the whole Norse Deity thing. It’s all fake fur, but it’s the finest quality so it should feel pretty real,” Tony stated, leaning on the doorframe.  
  
Loki tilted his head as if he had a question, but seemed to forget it as he spotted the gigantic wall to wall, floor to ceiling window looking out over the ocean. He took the step down off of the platform, walking over to the window with an unreadable expression.  
  
“So…” Tony said after a long pause. “There is an ensuite bathroom with a pretty decent sized tub and a shower. If you need something, just ask Friday.”

Loki turned to him with a questioning expression.

“Friday is my AI. Artificial Intelligence. She can hear you from anywhere in the house. Just call her name.”

Loki nodded and waved a dismissive hand, turning back to look out of the window. Tony took that as his signal to leave, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

He made his way back down to the living room, his mind reeling.

“Why the fuck am I helping Loki? I should’ve just left him the second I realised it was him. I shouldn’t have let Doctor Goatee force me into babysitting. God, this is not how I thought my life would be going.”

 _“Sir, Colonel Rhodes is at the door,”_ Friday announced, breaking Tony out of his anxiety ridden downward spiral.

“Thanks, Fri,” he said, moving to open the door. Rhodey look disheveled, the dark bags under his eyes very prominent.

“Rhodey, what’s up? You look like ass,” Tony commented with a quirked eyebrow. He wasn’t quite prepared for the hug when it came.

“Tony! Holy shit, you’re alive!” Rhodey said, pulling back and holding him by the shoulders.

“Um, yeah. Did buzzfeed do another RIP Anthony Stark post again? Seriously, those guys are hopeless.”

“Tony, where have you been? Everyone was worried sick,” Rhodey stated, his expression shifting from relief to something much more serious.

“Well, this morning I was testing out a new feature I’d created for the Mark 50 to increase my speed, and I ended up indirectly inventing a warp drive. I just got back.”

“This morning? Tony, you’ve been missing for two weeks. We thought you got kidnapped again,” Rhodey said slowly, his grip on Tony’s shoulders tightening slightly.

“That’s impossible! It’s January 31st, right?” Tony said, his pulse picking up.

“Tony, it’s February 13th.”

Tony’s mouth went dry, his heart beating faster. He felt the familiar pain in his chest, his jaw, his back, as his muscles tried desperately to pump enough blood through his veins to make up for his panicked breathing.

He hadn’t noticed Rhodey leading him to his couch until he was seated.

“Tony, just relax. You’re home now and- what the hell happened to your coffee table?”

“Oh,” Tony said, looking at the two separate pieces of his coffee table.

“That’s a funny story, actually. You see-“

Both men looked up as a yell sounded outside, glancing out the window just in time to see Loki falling past it.

“Was that…” Rhodey said, not taking his eyes away from the window.

Tony opened his mouth to respond when the elevator dinged and Loki flew sideways through the open doors, skidding across the marble tiles until he reached the curved couch. His expression was a mix between livid and apathetic.

“I hate that miserable excuse for a sorcerer,” he spat, not even bothering to get off of the floor.

Rhodey had his gun drawn in seconds, aiming it at Loki with a steady hand.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded. Loki lulled his head to the side to glance up at Rhody, looking for all the world like a particularly aggravated house cat.

“I’ve been asking myself that question for the past few years,” he replied, slowly pulling himself to his feet and brushing himself off.

“Rhodey, put away the gun. He won’t hurt you,” Tony said, placing his hand over his racing heart and trying to steady his breathing.

“Like hell he won’t,” Rhodey spat, keeping the gun trained on a very unimpressed looking Loki.

“Believe me, if I wanted to, I already would have,” Loki said, crossing his arms.

Rhodey squinted distrustingly, finally lowering his gun.

“Tony, I need an explanation fast. You disappear without a trace for two weeks and come back with one of SHIELDS top most wanted? What is going on?”

“I mean… you pretty much summed it up right there,” Tony said with a shrug. At a glare from Rhodey, he raised his hands and continued. “Look, it wasn’t my idea to have him here. There were   extenuating circumstances. He’s got a curse placed on him and now he and I have a sort of truce going on until he can break the curse and get back to Thor.”

“Back to Thor? Since when are you so willing to go back to him?” Rhodey questioned.

“A lot has happened since you last saw me. He and I have been through much together,” Loki replied cryptically, leaning against the arm of the couch.

“Well, why don’t you tell us exactly what‘s been going on. We’ve got plenty of time,” Rhodey said, crossing his arms and mirroring Loki’s position.

“Maybe after I take a shower,” Tony piped in, standing up. “I have been in space for two weeks, after all, and I don’t think I can sit through a story like that while I smell like ass.”

“Sounds good,” Rhodey said, not taking his eyes off of Loki.

“You’d be doing us all a favour,” Loki agreed, returning Rhodey’s glare tenfold.

Tony nodded and made his way to the elevator, stepping in. He let out a sigh of relief the second the doors were closed.

He needed some Ibuprofen. Maybe a medically induced coma.

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m working hard to get these chapters out at a reasonable speed you guys! 
> 
> The response to this has been really cool! I’m happy this story is coming across so well!
> 
> More to come soon!
> 
> ~Cynical


	4. Chapter 4

“So, let me get this straight,” Tony said, fingers drumming against the cool glass of his tumbler of scotch.

“You went to Asgardian prison, but Thor sprung you after a mass breakout so you would help him save his now ex-girlfriend. You faked your own death and then stranded your father in an old folks home and posed as him to hide from Amora. Odin bit the dust, your secret sister tried to take over Asgard, you were a dictators lapdog for a while, and then you and Thor saved Asgard by bringing forth the apocalypse?”  
  
“I suppose that’s a good way to paraphrase it, yes,” Loki said, crossing his legs as he sat straight-backed and poised in the white leather armchair across from Tony and Rhodey.

“And you no longer have any interest in taking over the earth?”

“None whatsoever,” Loki replied easily. “I only want to return to my people; to help rebuild.”

“Why are you suddenly so invested in your people; in Thor? A few years ago you were ready to abandon them completely,” Tony pointed out, taking a sip and savouring the burn of the liquor going down his throat.

“Because I realised that they are all I have left. Thor is the same way. In very short succession, we have lost our mother, our father, a sister we never even knew of, our entire realm, and most of our people. I am no less confused than you are for my change of heart. All I know is that after all we’ve gone through I cannot lose Thor; especially not to Amora.”

After a long moment of contemplative silence, filled only with Tony taking occasional sips of his scotch, Rhodey pushed himself out of his chair and to his feet.

“Ok. I think I’ve had enough of this for today,” he said, waving to Tony and limping over toward the door.

“Rhodey,” Tony called, setting down his glass and following his friend. “I need you to promise not to tell a soul that Loki is here. If General Ross gets wind of this, we’ll all be screwed.”

“Tony,” Rhodey sighed, placing his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I don’t think anyone would believe me if I tried to tell them what I just heard. But, if you’re really that concerned, I give you my word I won't tell anyone about this.”

“You’re the best,” Tony said with a smile, patting Rhodey’s back affectionately.

“Yeah yeah. I’ll just spread the word that you were on vacation or something. Maybe somewhere like  Switzerland or Austria.”

“Thanks buddy,” Tony said as the front door slammed shut behind his disgruntled friend.

“General Ross?” Loki said from his chair, watching Tony walk back to sit on the couch.

“Yeah. He’s sort of the boss right now,” Tony said a bit more grimly than he had meant to.

“What happened to your Director Fury?”

“He… he’s still around, but SHIELD technically isn’t.”

Loki didn’t look remotely surprised at that, adjusting his position in the chair and re-crossing his legs.

“So if SHIELD has been dismantled, does that mean your Avengers are under the control of this General Ross?”

Tony clenched his jaw, resolutely finishing off his scotch rather then answering.

“Where are your teammates?” Loki inquired as if suddenly realising something was amiss. “Why did you not call upon them for help the moment you saw me?”

“It’s complicated,” Tony stated, setting his glass down a bit harder then was necessary.

Loki watched him closely for a moment, not continuing his line of questioning, but still very clearly thinking about it. The gaze made Tony incredibly uncomfortable.

“Well,” Tony finally said, breaking the uneasy silence as he stood from his couch. “I’m going down to my lab to fix the damage to my suit. If you need anything, ask Friday. I’m guessing you’ve grasped how to since I’m guessing you got her to open that window for you.”

Tony didn’t glance back as he pressed the button for the elevator, stepping in and letting the doors close behind him before slumping against the wall in pure relief. Loki’s presence was so… the only word he could think of was intense.

“Fri, take me to my lab. I’ve got some shit to work out.”

Boy was that ever the truth.

………

Loki stepped into the room he had been given, closing the door behind him and approaching the still open window that he had attempted to make his escape through.

“Friday, would you close the window, if you please?” he said toward the ceiling.

 _“Yes, Sir,”_ the gentle disembodied voice answered, and the large floor to ceiling window turned until the lock clicked into place.

Loki felt utterly helpless as he stared at his hands that, try as he may, he could not stop from shaking. He could feel where his magic was supposed to be, but he couldn’t tap into it. What had Amora done to him?

He thought back to the arc, the faces of the terrified survivors, and Thor. His expression was one of immeasurable grief and pain as Loki was thrown through the portal Amora had summoned.

Where had she learned that? And how had she been able to come to Midgard to terrorise Strange? The small pocket of space Odin had exiled her to was supposed to be inescapable.

Loki gasped, a realisation washing over him like a wave of freezing water. Without a second thought, he threw open the door to his room and sprinted to the elevator.

“Friday, tell Stark I must speak with him,” Loki said as he looked over the buttons contemplatively.

 _“Mr. Stark does not wish to be disturbed,”_ Friday answered as Loki found the button he was looking for and pressed it.

“Tell him his wishes do not matter! This is far more important!”

Loki waited for an answer as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a ding to the living room.

“Why am I here. I pressed the button for the bottom floor,” Loki questioned, becoming more aggravated by the second.

 _“You do not have clearance for that level,”_ Friday answered.

Loki clenched his jaw, taking a deep breath and looking to the ceiling.

“Don’t I?”

………

Tony was fully absorbed in his work. He’d already managed to smooth out the dents in his armor, now taking apart the added on speed accelerator to find out why it had totally shut off his suit after using it.

 _“Sir,”_ Friday started. _“I feel compelled to inform you that the living room is on fire.”_

“What?” Tony exclaimed, immediately dropping his tools, grabbing the nearby fire extinguisher, and running to the elevator.

He repeatedly mashed the button for the ground floor, raising the extinguisher the minute the doors opened only to find Loki standing in front of him, looking somewhere between smug and pissed.

“Where’s the fire?” Tony inquired, looking around behind him.

“Fire?” Loki said with clearly false innocence.

When it dawned on Tony what had happened, he stared at the man in utter disbelief.

“You got my AI to lie to me?” he said indignantly, lowering the fire extinguisher.

“You wouldn’t listen,” Loki answered with a shrug.

“Ok fine,” Tony said as he walked past Loki, setting the extinguisher down beside the couch and sinking into the white leather a bit more dramatically then he really meant to. “What is so damn important?”

“After Odin died, Hela was freed from her prison. The same must’ve happened with Amora.”

“Ok?” Tony nodded, wishing for all the world that he had thought to grab a scotch before sitting down.

“But they were not the only ones Odin had kept imprisoned by magical means. So if they were freed after his passing, how many others do you suppose are free and seeking vengeance on Asgard?”

Tony felt sick at those words, meeting Loki’s intense gaze.

“How long do you think it’ll take for Amora to realise this?”

Loki laughed humourlessly, shaking his head.

“If I know her, she’s already gathering them together. She’ll have an army by the time Thor and the Asgardians arrive.”

“But the Asgardians, they can fight, right?” Tony questioned, feeling his heartbeat begin to pick up.

“I told you, Hela killed all of our warriors. All that remain are farmers, smiths, healers, and children.”

“Shit.”

Tony got up from the couch, pacing as he tried to breath correctly.

“What about the Avengers? Can you really not call upon your team?” Loki said, the words bringing Tony to a halt.

“No,” he said grimly, not looking at Loki even as the god came to stand in front of him.

“All together you’ve defeated Amora and me before. Wouldn’t it be-“

“I said no!” Tony snapped, finally making eye contact with Loki. The other man looked surprised and a bit annoyed at the outburst, crossing his arms.

“Why not,” he said, his jaw clenched tightly as if he was resisting the urge to snap at Tony like some sort of feral cat.

“It’s com-“

“Complicated? I don’t care. I told you everything, now I believe it’s your turn to explain, Stark.”

Tony sighed, walking over to his bar and pouring himself a drink.

He was going to need it.

………

Tony sucked in a deep breath as he finished retelling the events of the past seven years. He felt drained as he sipped at his untouched scotch.

Loki’s gaze was unnerving to say the least. He seemed to be taking in and analysing every single word Tony had said in the last 45 minutes.

Finally, he sighed and shook his head, pushing the black tendrils of hair that had fallen over his shoulder out of his face.

“All of that over a petty disagreement?”  
  
“Petty? He put us all in danger because he couldn’t set aside his ego. He betrayed me for his old war buddy that, maybe you forgot, killed my parents!”   
  
“I agree, his actions were reckless, but I never would have guessed you yourself would be for the accords. You don’t seem the type to bow down to the commands of your government, especially when it means censoring or controlling you. What changed?”   
  
Tony balked at his words, opening and closing his mouth again and again as he searched for a response.

“And don’t feed me some line about finally wanting to do the right thing,” Loki snapped.  
  
“I… I saw a vision of the future,” Tony admitted, a lump forming in his throat as he remembered what he’d seen. “Everyone; Steve, Bruce, Nat, Clint, Thor, everyone was dead. Steve blamed me. He said I could’ve done more…”

Tony looked away from Loki’s face, holding on to his glass of scotch as if it were his lifeline.

“You did what you did to keep your team safe,” Loki said in understanding. “The sign of a true leader… Stark, Amora is amassing an army. She could not conquer Asgard. Midgard would be an easy second choice. You want your Avengers to survive? Then end this useless rivalry. Call upon your teammates; get them together if you wish to avoid that future that you saw. There is safety in numbers.”

“I’m sorry, did you really not hear the part about Caps best buddy murdering my parents? And then Cap himself almost killing me with his shield of all things?”

“Come on Stark. Do you realise who you’re talking to?” Loki scoffed, standing abruptly from the white leather armchair.

“Do you have any idea how many times in the past thousand years I have tricked or betrayed Thor? How many times my actions have nearly gotten him killed? Even before my intentions changed from innocent mischief to real malevolence, I was a constant pain, an absolute thorn in his side. And every single time, Thor found it in his heart to forgive me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”

“Thor is different!” Tony argued, also standing so he was face to face with Loki.

“Steve respects people that follow the same path as him! The old fashioned hard working people that believe in truth, justice, and the American way. He fights for them, and if a law gets in his way, he has no issue breaking it as long as it’s for the greater good.

“My dad used to tell me stories about his days with the great Captain America; how brave and kind and amazing he was. I looked up to him, come to find years later that after all we’d been through together he would rather become a war criminal and side with the man who took my family away from me then just listen to my side of the argument and trust me. That’s not just something I can let go of.”

“Stark,” Loki said after a long moment of silence, stepping out of Tony’s personal space. “I do not care about the internal conflicts of your team. I care about the survival of the last bit of family I have left. You need to get your priorities straight, develop a spine, and contact your team before you get me killed and your realm is taken over by that witch,” Loki stated coldly, turning his back on Tony and walking towards the stairs.

Tony watched him go, unable to come up with a biting retort. He sipped bitterly at his scotch as Loki disappeared from view, holding his glass a bit too tightly.

“Friday,” he said after a moment, tipping his glass back and swallowing the last of the burning liquid.

“Don't ever lie to me again.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I’ve been really busy at work. Updates may take a bit longer since I’ve picked up more hours, but I’ll try my utmost to keep the wait as short as possible!
> 
> Thank you all for your comments! They really make my day and inspire me to keep writing even when faced with intense writers block. 
> 
> ~Cynical


	5. Chapter 5

Tony could not honestly recall how long he’d been sitting at his bartop staring at his phone. He knew what he had to do, but the thought of carrying it out made him sick to his stomach.

Loki’s words played on repeat in his mind; _“You want your Avengers to survive? Then end this useless rivalry.”_

Tony hated to admit it even to himself, but Loki was absolutely right. The world needed the Avengers, and that’s exactly what was going to happen; at least it would if he could pick up the damn phone.

“Ok. Ok. C’mon Tony,” he whispered to himself. Without thinking, he reached toward his phone, fingertips barely touching the case when there was suddenly the unmistakable sound of a phone going off.

He jumped in his seat, hands scrambling to pick up the Nokia flip phone. His heart dropped when he realised it wasn’t the flip phone ringing, but his own phone in his pocket.

With a deep sigh he pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the caller ID before begrudgingly answering.

“Justine? What do you want?” he asked, deciding to cut right to the chase. Justine Hammer scoffed audibly over the line.

_“Hello to you too, Tony. I heard you just got back from vacationing in Austria.”_

Tony rolled his eyes, staring down at the Nokia as he flipped it open and closed absently.

“Yep. Real nice. The weather was cloudy, the hills were alive, all that good stuff. Why are you calling me?”

_“Well, I thought it might interest you to know that I am hosting a Valentine’s Day charity banquet. I’d like it if you would consider coming.”_

Tony snorted, hopping off of his barstool to pour himself a drink.

“Justine, I would rather hurl myself into the sun then attend your stupid Love Day banquet.”

Tony could almost see her wrinkling her nose in anger, smirking at the thought as he uncorked and poured himself a glass of scotch.  

_“I suppose I can understand why you wouldn’t want to attract attention to yourself on such a special day, what with the rather recent ending of your little fling with that Mrs. Putz.”_

“Potts,” Tony corrected automatically, his jaw clenching. That was a low blow even for her.

_“Right. Anyway, I’m sorry to hear that you won’t be attending. I did have some rather important information regarding the situation of your, shall we say, visitor. But since you’d rather miss out on-“_

“Wait. How do you know about… What the hell is your game here, Hammer?” Tony half growled, his grip on his glass ironclad.

_“No game, Tony. I’m just feeling oddly charitable. But if you can’t make it-“_

“I’ll be there,” Tony ground out, hanging up before she could say another word and slamming back his scotch, gulping it down and hissing at the burn.

What the hell had he just gotten himself into?

………

“Is everything prepared for tonight, Skurge darling?” Amora inquired, her tone saccharine sweet.

Skurge fell to one knee, setting his axe on the floor before him and bowing his head reverently.

“Yes, my lady. The mortal has been baited just as you said.”

“And just like that, the trap is set. Thor is as good as mine and all it took was one foolishly brash mortal,” she laughed, looking to Skurge with a smile as she turned the page of the large book she had been looking through.

“You have done well. You deserve a reward for your obedience,” she said as she moved towards him and touched two fingers to the handle of his axe. Gold magic spread across the axe, going green before seeming to seep into the dark metal itself.

“Now this is the weapon of Asgard’s strongest warrior. With this axe, you shall be unstoppable.”

Skurge took the axe in hand, rising from the floor. He took in a deep breath, letting it out with a smirk.

“Thank you, my lady,” Skurge said.

“Now go forth. We both have much to do,” Amora said, touching his cheek before turning back to the open book.

“I shall not let you down.”

………

Loki took in a deep breath as he raised his hands, whispering an incantation. He watched as a spark of fire danced across his palm before choking on a yell as blinding pain shot through his body.

“Damn it!” he cursed, picking up a nearby book and hurling it at the door. He hugged himself as the residual pain slowly dimmed.

“There went that idea,” he whispered to himself, pushing his hair out of his face. He’d been at it for hours, locked in his borrowed room trying spell after spell with absolutely no luck. He’d used every applicable counter curse he knew, but none had worked.

He glanced up at a hauntingly familiar sound, the cawing of a bird. He stood from the leather armchair, looking out the window just in time to see a blur of black soar past and out of sight. He went to investigate, but stopped in his tracks at a knock on the door.

With one final glance toward the window, Loki approached the door, leaning against the wall beside it.

“I’m quite busy. What do you want, Stark?” he questioned, crossing his arms.

“I think I might be able to get some information on Amora,” Tony said from the other side.

“Pray tell, how will you go about doing that?” Loki asked indulgingly.

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk about. I will be going to a charity banquet tonight. I’ll only be gone a few hours, but-”

Loki opened the door, letting it slam hard against the wall as he glared at Tony.

“You plan to leave me here by myself just because you think you may get information?” Loki snapped.

“I don’t think; I know. And, I mean, you can come if you want,” Tony shot back.

“Are you an idiot?” he said, stepping threateningly into Tony’s personal space. The man didn’t flinch.

“It’s up for debate,” he shrugged.

 

“Who is the one offering this information? How did they go about contacting you?” Loki interrogated, his gaze intense.

“The source is Justine Hammer. She was one of the big bad villains here on earth for a while, but she retired under the condition that she would be constantly monitored by SHIELD. I got a call from her a little while ago. She seems to somehow know that you’re with me.”

”How do you know this isn’t a trap?”

”I don’t, but it’s worth a shot, right?” Tony shrugged.

Loki rolled his eyes, walking back into his room and sitting in the leather armchair.

“If you feel that you must go, I will not stop you. Just know that you yourself accepted the risk of leaving me alone, unsupervised, in your home.”

Tony squinted at Loki as he made his way into the room, stopping a few feet from him. He looked hesitant, as if picturing the damage Loki could inflict upon his newly built house.

“You’ll be fine. No one can get in without me,” he finally said dismissively. “And while I’m gone, you can keep working on undoing that curse. Whatever gets you out of here faster.”

“While you’re gone?” said a new and thoroughly annoyed voice.

Loki was on his feet in seconds, turning to face Strange as a golden portal closed behind him.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going, Stark?” asked the Sorcerer Supreme himself, cape flapping despite the lack of wind.

Tony groaned.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have the worst timing?”

“You are not to leave this house,” Strange ordered, giving Tony a stern look that reminded him immediately of his father.

“And why the hell not? You’re not my boss; I don’t answer to you. What is stopping me from just walking out?”

“You don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation you’ve found yourself in, so allow me to reiterate,” Strange said, his tone one of utter frustration. “Loki is being hunted down by a crazed Enchantress who will stop at nothing to kill him and conquer Earth. You need to stay together and stay here where my enchantment can protect you until Loki breaks the curse placed on him so he can defeat Amora. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Loki clenched his jaw as he watched Tony nod begrudgingly.

“Good. Now I’ve only come to make sure the enchantment is holding. I’ll check back in soon.”

With that, Strange opened a portal and disappeared through, closing it behind himself.

There was a long stretch of silence, filled only with the creaking of leather against leather as Loki crossed his legs in his seat.

“We’re going,” he said resolutely, brow set in determination.

“Hell yeah we are,” Tony answered under his breath. “Friday, call my regular trailer,” Tony ordered, looking to Loki with a smirk. “We need to get you out of that Viking fetish fantasy and into something a bit more appropriate.”

………

Tony had to admit, getting Loki into a tailored suit had been a great idea. He’d never say it to his face, but the psycho cleaned up very well. The black of the expensive material complimented his pale skin, and the tie was the same shade of green as his eyes.

They had taken one of Tony’s Audis, the ride very uncomfortably quiet. It really gave Tony plenty of time for his decision to bring a wanted super powered criminal to a charity banquet out of spite sink in.

Once they had arrived, Tony hopped out and handed his keys to the waiting valet. Loki walked beside him as they made their way toward the entrance.

“Paparazzi and reporters ahead,” Tony warned, motioning towards the huge crowd with the brightly flashing cameras and microphones. “Just keep walking. Don’t even look at them.”

The moment the last word had come out of Tony’s mouth, a wall of excited reporters and cameramen crowded around them both, effectively blocking their path.

Their questions seemed to blur together, the voices becoming white noise. He caught a snippet of a sentence here and there, something about if he was taken hostage. Tony took a deep breath, holding his hands behind his back.

“Clearly you all have a lot of questions, but nothing is going to get answered like this. Chill,” Tony said, projecting his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. The crowd quickly hushed, eagerly awaiting Tony’s explanation.  
  
“I was not kidnapped or held hostage. I decided to take a short sabbatical in Austria. If you have any more questions you’d like to calmly ask, I will answer them if I want to.”

“Mr. Stark! This is Donna DeMarco from Thunderbolt News, Channel 3. Is it true that the Avengers have been disbanded?”

“I’m afraid I have no comment for you on that particular topic, Mrs. DeMarco. You’ll have to wait for the briefing next month,” Tony answered as politely as possible.

“Mr. Stark, after the termination of your romantic relationship with Mrs. Pepper Potts, do you think it wise to let her continue to run your company?”

Tony frowned at that, holding himself back just barely from knocking the microphone out of the reporters hand.

“Mrs. Potts has proven that she is more than capable of running Stark Industries and I would trust no one more then her to do it right.”

“Mr. Stark! Who is your plus one for tonight and what is the nature of your relationship,” called the first woman once again.

Tony knew he’d lost his composure, brief though it was. He coughed, glancing back at Loki to see the other man advancing on him and grabbing his arm.

“I believe that is enough questions for now. Go pester someone else,” Loki snapped, leading Tony through the entrance.

Tony breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the huge foyer of Justine Hammer’s mansion, a man coming up to take their coats.

“I used to be so good at dealing with press,” he said more to himself then to Loki.

“It matters not. We have a job to do here, so it is better not to dwell on it.”

Tony nodded in agreement, leading Loki toward the banquet hall.

The room was huge, decorated extravagantly in red, white, and pink. Tables lined the walls covered in donated food, clothing, and toys. A band played soft romantic music on silver instruments while impeccably dressed people danced on the huge dance floor.

“Tony Stark!” a voice called out over the music. Tony glanced up to see Justine Hammer wearing a deep red cocktail gown and cheesy pink heart sunglasses, approaching them with drinks in hand.

“I’m so glad you made it!” she said, handing Tony a flute of champagne.

“Glad to be here,” Tony replied, smiling graciously as he sipped at the drink.

“And this must be Loki. You’re much handsomer then I had expected,” she greeted flirtatiously, turning to Loki and holding out her hand.

“And you, more beautiful. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Loki answered smoothly, taking her hand and delicately kissing her knuckles. Tony could swear that Justine swooned at that, and he felt the beginning of a brand new headache forming.

“Positively charmed,” Justine said with a radiant smile, completely ignoring Tony’s dramatic eye roll. “Well, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

She motioned for them to follow her into a little office adjacent to the banquet hall, grabbing another glass off of a passing tray and handing it to Loki.

She sat behind the desk, folding her hands in front of her.

“As you may know, I once had several, shall we say, contacts in the criminal system. Those who still owe me a favour or two have informed me that you’re being watched.”

“Watched?” Tony repeated, glancing over to Loki. “How?”

“Perhaps your Friday has been hacked?” Loki supplied.

“No. Nobody could hack me except… me. That’s out of the question.”

“You were always so prideful,” Justine said, leaning forward in her chair a bit swirling the champagne around in the flute.

“With good reason,” Tony shot back. “Who is watching us, Justine? And how are they doing it?”

“Hm… Let’s just say you’ve chosen your friends poorly,” Justine replied easily, draining her glass and smiling like a viper.

“No, let’s not just say that. You promised actual information, Hammer, not badly conceived riddles,” Tony said, slamming his hands on the desk and standing to glare down at her.

“A bit on edge, are we? Perhaps having that traitor in your home is doing things to your mental constitution?” Justine stated.

Loki tensed beside Tony, suddenly dropping his champagne flute and letting it shatter on the tile.

“No,” he whispered before lunging at Justine. If one swift motion, he ripped the heart sunglasses off of her face. Acid green eyes swirling with magic stared back at him.

“What the hell,” Tony said as Loki grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the office. They sprinted onto the dancefloor, hiding amongst the gently moving crowd.

“Amora knows we’re here. We need to leave, now,” Loki stated, glancing around at every exit and cursing as he spotted two armed guards posted at each.

“Shit. I should’ve known this was a trap,” Tony sighed. He chose to ignore Loki’s pointed glare. “It doesn’t matter now. There are still people coming. Maybe we can make a distraction of some kind and slip out unnoticed in the chaos?”

Loki opened his mouth to reply when a hand gripped his arm and pulled. Loki immediately swiveled in the spot, grabbing his assailant and flipping him over his shoulder. The man glanced up at him with glowing green eyes before calling out;

“He’s here!”

Tony shoved Loki out of the way of another attack, Loki in turn grabbing his wrist and pulling him along behind him, bobbing and weaving through the crowd. They had nearly reached the entrance when Loki froze in place, cursing under his breath.

Tony followed his gaze to see a large bald man with those same enchanted green eyes, wearing heavy armour and wielding a large glowing axe.

“Skurge,” Loki whispered, holding his arm out in front of Tony and backing up slowly.

In a blink, Skurge was charging at them, his axe raised at shoulder height across his body. With a yell of effort, he swung hard and Tony squeezed his eyes shut.

He heard a loud and agonised scream and felt hands on his shoulders and suddenly his ears were popping and there was wind whipping past him. He was falling; falling through the black abyss of foreign space, his HUD dark, his arc reactor dead, and an alien fleet in the distance  

His eyes snapped open; he was on earth, plummeting toward the ocean.

He took in his surroundings, spotting his house perched on the cliff side about 100 feet below. In a panic, he searched for Loki, seeing him falling only a short distance away, unconscious.

With no time to think, Tony reached into his suit pocket, fastening his wristbands on with unsteady hands. As the water approached, sharp rocks jutting out from the foam like a death threat, he screamed out;

“Friday! Deploy the Mark 7!”

He heard the distinct sound of a window shattering over the roaring of the air past his ears. He felt the heat of the rockets as the old suit approached and closed around him, too slowly for comfort. The moment the HUD display came on, he activated his repulsors, swooping down and reaching out for Loki.

He managed to grab onto his arm, clenching tightly and pulling them both up a mere 10 feet from the water.

He landed on the balcony outside of his room, setting Loki down and collapsing to his hands and knees. He gasped for air as he retracted his faceplate, his heart beating double time. Sweat poured down his brow as the cold dread from the fall slowly subsided, replaced by the unbearable heat of panic.

“Loki?” he said softly, crawling over to the man’s unconscious form. He looked paler than usual, his brow damp with sweat. The wound on his side that hadn’t quite healed up seemed to have fully reopened, staining the expensive material of his suit.

With a shaky breath, Tony managed to push himself to his feet, the old model of his suit feeling heavy around him. He reached down and picked Loki up as gently as he could, trying not to jar his wound any more than it already had been.

“Friday, contact Rhodey. Tell him to get over here ASAP,” Tony said as he made his way into his room, setting Loki on his bed.

 _“Message sent,”_ Friday replied.

Tony nodded, trying to get his breathing back to normal. He glanced up at a pained groan, turning to see Loki sitting up.

“You’re awake.”

“I sorely wish I wasn’t,” Loki replied. “What happened.”

“Well,” Tony laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m guessing you managed to teleport us out of danger, but you couldn’t get past Strange’s enchantment so we appeared about 100 feet above the house.”

“And you…”

“Saved our asses from plummeting into the ocean? Yes I did,” Tony said.

“… Thank you, Stark,” Loki said softly, looking down at his lap as if unable to meet Tony’s gaze.

Tony, for his part, blinked in surprise as he attempted to replay those words in his head, wondering briefly if he’d heard wrong.

“Don’t thank me. You’re the one who got us out of there in the first place. Are you in any pain?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Loki replied, though Tony saw the way his hands were shaking and knew it was a lie. He chose not to comment on it.

“Alright. I called Rhodey. He should be on his way shortly so just hang tight.”

“Are you… are you well, Stark?” Loki asked, hiding a wince as he sat up a bit straighter, his back against the headboard.

“I…” Tony started, cut off by Friday.

 _“Colonel Rhodes is here, boss,”_ she informed.

“Great. Tell him I’ll be right down,” Tony said in a rush, standing from the bed.

“Stay here. Try and rest a bit,” Tony called back as he made his way out the door. His footsteps echoed, made louder by his suit as he walked down the corridor and stepped into the waiting elevator.

 _‘Thank you, Stark,’_ Loki had said. He had sounded so genuine. Tony knew that Loki’s gratitude was not to be taken lightly.

He took in several deep breaths as the elevator dinged and opened, hurrying to the front door and pulling it open.

“Rhodey, thanks for getting here so fast,” he said, stepping back to allow him in.

“No problem, Tony,” Rhodey answered, his tone completely even as he passed the threshold, planting his hand on the door.

Tony stepped back abruptly as Rhodey fixed him with an almost smug smirk, his eyes glowing green.

“No problem at all.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry for the long gap between uploads. I’ve been swamped at work and I’ve had major writers block.
> 
> Also, just to show how late it truly am with this chapter, this was supposed to take place on Valentines Day. Oops. 
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter despite the wait! If you do, maybe leave me a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
> 
> ~Cynical


	6. Chapter 6

“Shit!” Tony yelled as he tried to slam the door shut, but Rhodey managed to shove Tony back, suit and all, and step inside. 

“Friday! Tell Loki we have company!” he yelled, charging a repulsor but hesitating as he realised just who he was aiming at. 

In his moment of hesitation, Rhodey shot forward, grabbing his outstretched arm and twisting. Green magic seemed to seep out of his skin, slithering up to Tony’s armoured shoulder and then gripping. Tony cursed as he was thrown to the ground, feeling the marble crunch under his suit. 

Rhodey took that moment to pull his gun, aiming it at Tony’s head. Time seemed to slow down as Rhodey’s finger moved toward the trigger. Every thought left Tony’s head as he stared down the barrel. 

A yell from outside caught their attention, Tony just managing to catch sight of a familiar shape falling past the window followed by the elevator doors dinging. They both turned around just in time to see Loki flying out of the open doors, his body colliding full force with Rhodey’s.

Loki rolled to his feet agilely as Rhodey’s gun clattered across the tile, landing beneath the couch.

“Still playing with toy soldiers, Witch? Why don’t you come and face me yourself?” Loki taunted, stalking forward and grabbing Rhodey by the front of his shirt, glaring into his enchanted eyes. 

Rhodey swung his fist with a growl, Loki dodging the blow, grabbing his wrist, and twisting it behind his back. Loki grunted as Rhodey suddenly bent at the waist, throwing him over his shoulder. He rolled quickly out of the way of a kick, jumping to his feet. 

“Speak for yourself, traitor,” Rhodey said, his own voice intertwined with Amora’s. “You’ve always hid behind Thor. Now you have your Man of Iron.”

Tony and Loki both turned their attentions to the still open front door as more green eyed zombies began to file in, each one echoing Amora’s voice. 

Tony raised his arms, charging his repulsors and aiming at the centre of the mob. 

“Stark, no,” Loki said, placing his hand on one of Tony’s gauntlets. “They’re enchanted.” 

Tony could hardly breath as the room was filled with a cacophony of distorted laughter. 

“We need to get out of here, now,” Tony yelled over the din, his vision blurring with panic. 

“Everywhere you go, I will find you. We will find you,” they said in a discordant chant. 

“How do we escape?” Loki questioned as the enchanted army advanced, more and more pouring in through the door by the second. “I can’t use my magic again, and there’s no chance of outrunning them.”

“I believe I can help with that,” stated a voice before two golden portals opened behind them. Tony barely had time to curse before he was being pulled through, Rhodey’s glowing green glare the last thing he saw before the portal closed. 

He was hit with the increasingly familiar sensation of falling through space before he seemed to reach the other side of the portal and he was instead dropping about ten feet to land hard on his back in a field of grass. 

He glanced to his left at the sound of a pained groan, spotting Loki laying a few feet away, holding his injured side. 

“Will you _stop_ _doing_ that?” Tony gritted out, sitting up with a grunt and turning to see Strange standing a short distance away. 

“What? Saving you?” he shot back superiorly, crossing his arms. 

“Saving us?” Loki gasped out, his words almost sounding like a laugh. “It is because of you that we got into that mess to begin with! Your enchantment did nothing!”

Strange let out a sound that was almost a laugh, looking vaguely annoyed. 

“My enchantment worked just fine. You’re the ones that left that house after I specifically told you not to. And if Stark hadn’t opened the door for one of Amora’s lackies, you would’ve been perfectly safe.”

“He wasn’t a lackey. He was my best friend,” Tony spat, standing up and hitting the release for the old model. The armour removed itself reasonably quickly, falling to the ground with a thump and folding up into a pod shape.

“Amora seems to be enchanting civilians to use against us,” Loki added as he slowly managed to get himself to his feet. 

“Is that her idea of an army?” Tony questioned grimly. 

“No,” Loki huffed, taking in his surroundings absently. “Her enchantments don’t last for very long on such a large scale. She’s only using them to go after us because she knows that you won’t harm innocents.”

“She’s determined,” Strange stated, turning to Tony. “And she seems to know your weaknesses. That’s never a good thing.”

Tony frowned deeply, his gaze snapping up to meet Strange’s as a thought clicked in his mind. 

“Wait. You knew that I opened the door for Rhodey. That enchantment wasn’t just to protect us. You were watching us, weren’t you?”

Strange nodded, either blissfully unaware of or simply ignoring Tony’s growing anger. 

“Yes, I did take extra measures to protect you that I felt I didn’t need to share.”

“Protect us my ass! I don’t care what your intentions were. I don't like being under surveillance without knowing. It makes it damn hard to trust you.”

“If I hadn’t been watching, you would be dead by now. I removed you from the danger and brought you to a safer location. You’re welcome.”

Tony felt the proverbial steam shooting from his ears, his face going red with indignation. Before he could spit back an insult, Loki placed a hand on his shoulder, seeming to use him as support as his other hand gripped his side under his blood soaked suit jacket. 

“And just where have you taken us, Strange?” Loki inquired, his voice gravelly and tired. 

Tony looked around for the first time since he’d dropped through the portal, taking in the familiar countryside; the vibrantly green grass, the countless trees, the dirt path, the cozy house in the distance with the tractor out front. 

“This won’t work. We can’t stay here,” Tony said sternly, looking to Strange. 

“Why not?” Strange questioned, sounding exasperated. 

“This won’t exactly be a warm welcome. Not only does he hate Loki, but we’re not exactly on the best of terms either.”

“Stark,” Strange said, rubbing his temples. “This situation has escalated to a national emergency. Loki needs a place where he won’t be found to break the curse on his magic so he can take down Amora once and for all. There is no room here for grudges.”

With a quick motion, Strange opened up a portal in front of them, motioning for them to step through. 

“It would take ten minutes to walk. I think you’re a little too dependent on that magic,” Tony said without thinking. Strange rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist, bringing the portal forward. Tony shook away the dizzy feeling as he opened his eyes, now standing before the front door. 

Strange reached past his head, knocking shortly. Loki stood beside him, no longer holding onto him. His breathing was labored, making Tony almost wince in empathy. 

Short moments later the door swung open, revealing an exhausted Clint Barton. 

“Laura, you weren’t supposed to be back for-“

His tired eyes widened as they went from Tony, to Strange, and finally settled on Loki. 

“Clint, I-“

The door slammed in Tony’s face, the lock clicking from the other side. 

“Clint! Listen. I wouldn’t have come here if it weren’t important. This is a matter of urgency. Open the door!”

“Absolutely not, Tony!” Clint shouted from the other side. “I don’t know what you want, or why you have that mass murdering dickhead with you, but you take  _ him _ , and get the hell off of my property before I get violent.”

Strange sighed and summoned a small portal, reaching through it. There was the distinct sound of a lock turning before the door opened once again to reveal Clint standing at the ready with his practice bow, arrow nocked and aimed with deadly precision, and Strange’s disembodied hand poking through the other side of the portal. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Clint questioned, drawing back the arrow as Strange pulled his hand back out and closed the portals. 

“We can explain everything once we’re all inside,” Strange said easily, his tone not one to be argued with. 

Clint blinked at the bluntness of Strange’s words, his distrusting gaze travelling to Loki, who had been eerily silent. His face looked almost grey, but his green eyes shone sharply as he stared right back at Clint. 

“I’m not letting that monster into my home,” he said, motioning with the bow almost threateningly. 

“I promise he won’t do anything to you,” Tony said, shooting Loki a pointed look when he seemed to want to argue. 

“I’m not willing to take that chance. Besides, we’re not exactly on the best of terms either, Tony.”

“Clint, this is more important than what happened with Cap and the accords. This is about the world. Amora is back.”

“Amora,” Clint repeated, his jaw growing tense as his bow lowered. 

“She’s trying to conquer the earth. For the sake of the world, we need to set aside our differences. We can go back to hating each other after she’s dead.”

After a long moment of silence, Clint stepped aside to allow them in. Tony sighed in relief, motioning for Loki to follow him as he walked in. He could see Loki and Clint staring each other down in his peripheral vision.

“Don’t let him bleed on my furniture,” Clint snapped, his words addressed to Tony though he was still glaring at Loki. He closed the door after Strange, locking it and turning to the three of them. 

“Ok. I need the full story. What the hell is going on?”

“You might wanna sit down, Clint. This is going to take a while.”

………

Loki sighed deeply as he sat on the small bed in the room Barton had led him to. He stared at the pictures painted on the wall opposite him; clouds and trees, colourful balloons, a bow and arrow wielding cartoon fox dressed in green with a feathered hat. He closed his eyes and laid back, his legs dangling off the end of the child sized bed. 

After they had been allowed in, Barton listened with an intense focus as Stark and Strange explained the entire story while Loki sat silently between them, holding a rag to his bleeding side. 

Loki could tell that Barton was hesitant. Why wouldn’t he have been, considering everything that had happened in the past few years. He had many questions, but Stark was patient, answering them all. 

He was quite frankly shocked when Barton had told him he could use the room belonging to one of his children. 

_ “Just don’t touch anything, and if you even think about betraying me,” _ he had stared directly in Loki’s eyes at this, not needing to finish his sentence. 

His entire body ached. He could still vividly remember the pain that had followed his teleporting, shivering at the mere thought of it. He hadn’t hesitated at the time; he found himself wishing he had.

His eyes snapped open at a hauntingly familiar sound, almost a croak, outside of the window. Moments later, something started tapping against the glass. 

Loki forced himself to his feet, moving towards the window. He felt as if he was walking through molasses, each step taking an inexplicable amount of effort. 

He took a shaky breath as he pulled open the dark pink curtains, knowing already what he would see behind them. 

There on the windowsill stood a large Raven, beady black eyes meeting his. 

With shaking hands, Loki unlatched the window, pushing it open and taking a small step back. The Raven hopped in, bowing its head in invitation. Loki reached out, tears blurring his vision, and gently scratched at the birds neck beneath its feathers. Once black eyes shone a brilliant gold and a loud call sounded. 

~

_ Loki opened his eyes. He hadn’t remembered closing them. His blurry vision slowly began to focus on a figure standing before him, glowing gold and divine.  _

_ “Loki,” they spoke.  _

_ “Mother…” he whispered, his cheeks wet with fresh tears. “Mother I-I’m so sorry. It was all my fault,” he choked out, bowing his head. His black hair fell limp around his face like a black curtain, clinging to his cheeks as his shoulders trembled.  _

_ “I was angry, but not with you; never with you. I didn’t mean… And I never got to tell you-“ _

_ “Shhhh. It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault, my son,” Frigga spoke, her voice like a song, echoing in the vast whiteness that surrounded them. _

_ “No. I told those murderers where to go. I did it to save myself and to spite Odin. It’s my fault that you…” he broke off once again, holding his hand to his mouth to muffle a sob.  _

_ “Do not blame yourself. It was my choice to remain there.” _

_ Loki finally allowed himself to meet her gaze, exhaling shakily at seeing her kind smile once again. _

_ “Can you ever forgive me? For everything I put you through,” Loki asked softly.  _

_ “Loki. You were already forgiven,” Frigga replied, reaching out and touching a warm hand to his cheek. Loki covered the hand with his own, not pulling away from the touch but welcoming it.  _

_ After a long moment of silence, Loki finally wiped the tear tracks from his cheeks.  _

_ “How are you here, mother?” _

_ “I have been watching over you and your brother. I knew you needed help. The spell Amora placed upon you is of old magic…” Frigga trailed off, looking away with glistening eyes. “And it can only be reversed by an Asgardian.” _

_ The words felt like a punch to Loki’s gut; an insult directly from Amora herself. Of course she would stoop to that level. _

_ “But we only have farmers, merchants, and healers left. There is no one powerful enough to cast that sort of magic,” Loki said gravely, pushing past the nauseous feeling in his gut.  _

_ Frigga opened her mouth to answer when her image seemed to flicker. She sighed.  _

_ “I wish I could do more to help you, but I haven’t the time. Our connection is breaking,” she said softly, reaching out a hand and gently placing it on Loki’s injured side.  _

_ “The dangers you will soon face are ones I hoped you would never see. The exiled, released from Odin’s imprisonment just as Hela was, have already joined forces with Amora. They are searching for you even now.” _

_ Loki sucked in a deep breath as golden magic seeped out of Frigga’s hand, sinking into his skin. He watched as his wounded side shone gold briefly before the light dimmed.  _

_ “Mother,” he said, reaching out for her as she stepped back.  _

_ “I must return to Valhalla, and you to Midgard and your mortal inventor.” _

_ “I love you,” he said quickly as her image slowly began to fade. _

_ “And I love you, my son.” _

~

………

Tony glanced up from his place on the couch as Clint held a bottle of beer out to him. 

“You look like you could use this. It’s not that fancy stuff you usually drink, but it’s what I have.”

He nodded his gratitude as he took the bottle and proffered bottle opener. 

There was a long stretch of silence as Clint sat across from him, both men sipping at their drinks thoughtfully. 

“… I’m sorry we dragged you into this,” Tony finally said, absently picking at the beers label as condensation dropped onto his dirt covered suit pants. He badly needed a change of clothes, maybe a shower. 

“It’s fine, man. Laura and the kids are staying with her mother for a couple weeks, so I didn’t exactly have anything else to do, you know?”

Tony smirked at Clint’s casual tone, taking another swig of his beer. 

“So… Amora’s building an army of the other, uh, things Odin exiled. Do you have any idea what that’s gonna look like?” Clint questioned. 

“No clue. I think Loki might know more about it then he’s letting on.”

“Heh. Right… Loki,” Clint spat as if his name itself was somehow poisonous. “How exactly do we know that his side of the story is totally truthful? I mean, for all we know, he could’ve destroyed Asgard himself, stranded Thor in space, and purposely found you so he could gain your trust before murdering us all. I mean, he did try to convince you to call Cap, right?”

Tony shook his head, setting his beer on the coffee table. 

“No. He’s telling the truth. If you saw the way he spoke about Amora, fought against her zombies, you’d believe him too.”

“But what if it’s just an elaborate act?” Clint stressed, leaning forward in his seat.

“He’s different, Clint. I’m not saying you should totally trust him; hell, I certainly don’t, but-”

Tony and Clint jumped to their feet at what sounded like an unnaturally loud bird call, followed by a blinding flash of golden light coming from upstairs. 

“What the fuck was that?” Clint said.

Tony shook his head silently, suddenly wishing he had his Mark L handy. Perhaps he could ask Strange to get it when he returned from wherever it was that he’d disappeared to. 

“Maybe he broke the spell?” Clint supplied, his stance ready to spring into action. 

“Should we… should we go up there and check?” Tony asked. 

An image popped into his mind against his own wishes; Loki wearing his old horned helmet, armour, and cape, green fire engulfing his hand, his sceptre in the other. He laughed maniacally with Amora by his side as their surroundings burned. 

Tony tried to shake the image from his mind but found he couldn’t push it away. He felt the beginnings of panic creeping into his mind, quickening his heartbeat, laboring his breathing. 

Suddenly there was another blinding flash, followed by a soft thump. Tony was rushing up the stairs before he could think, bursting into the room Loki occupied and searching for the familiar figure. 

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he spotted Loki hunched over on his knees in front of an open window, his entire body glowing with golden light that was brightest at his wounded side. 

On the windowsill stood the same enormous raven Tony had seen just days before; the one that had landed beside Loki after his fall and had almost seemed to check him over. 

The bird acknowledged him with a nod before spreading its wings and flying away. 

Tony glanced back down to Loki as the glow began to dim. There was a hole burned into his suit jacket and shirt underneath where his wound had been, but the skin revealed there was completely healed over and perfectly smooth. 

Loki straightened up, brilliant gaze that almost looked red for a moment before going back to its usual clear green locking onto Tony. 

“I can’t do it,” he said as if the words pained him to speak. 

“You can’t do what? What happened?” Tony questioned, taking a hesitant step toward him and then another when Loki didn’t seem to want to strike out at him. 

“I can’t break the curse,” he elaborated, sitting back on his haunches and pressing the heels of his hands against his closed eyes. Tony could feel his frustration, his indescribable pain, from where he was. 

“Sparkles. What happened?” Tony asked more insistently, watching as Loki huffed and stood in one fluid motion, walking around him to sit on the small bed in the corner. 

“The Raven you saw brought a message from my mother in Valhalla. She told me what the spell placed on me was.”

“But that’s good, isn’t it? Now that you know what it is, you have a better chance at reversing it, right?” Tony supplied. 

Loki laughed in bitter amusement, gripping the sheets of the bed until his knuckles turned white. 

“It’s an ancient spell that can only be reversed by an Asgardian.”

“Why is that a problem? Just find the counter-curse or something and you’re good. I’m sure the Doc can give you some ancient books, or whatever he has, to help-“

“Stark, I am not Asgardian,” Loki snapped.

Tony felt his words get trapped in his throat as he glanced up at Loki, but Loki refused to meet his gaze. He looked more vulnerable than Tony had ever seen him, his expression so open, so filled with hurt and anger. 

“I was certain Thor would have told you. I was born the son of the King of Jotunheim. I was taken as an infant and raised as an Aesir Prince, but I am not Asgardian. Amora wanted this curse to hurt in more ways than one, and she succeeded. Without a true Asgardian sorcerer, I will never be able to break the curse-”

“And all of them are dead,” Tony finished, Loki nodding and looking down at his hands resting uselessly in his lap. Tony approached carefully, sitting on the bed beside him. Loki flinched as the bed dipped just slightly, but didn’t move away.

“… I’m sorry. That’s-“

“Don’t apologise. You didn’t do this to me,” Loki said with a bitter smile, clenching his fists and shaking his head. 

Tony felt the urge to comfort him, but hesitated as he realised he honestly didn’t know what he could possibly say or do to help. Amora had taken from Loki something that he depended on, had locked it away inside of him with the metaphorical key dangling in front of his face, just out of his reach. 

Before he could think too much about it, Tony moved a little closer and placed his hand on Loki’s shoulder. 

“I promise you she won’t win; not if I have any say in it. We’ll get her.”

“You can’t promise that,” Loki said as he turned to look at Tony. 

Tony was immediately caught off guard by not only the openness of Loki’s gaze, but at how close they suddenly were. Loki seemed a bit taken aback as well, but, once again, he didn’t move away.

“Stark…” Loki uttered, his lips parting as if he had more to say but couldn’t seem to get it out. Tony had never truly noticed how pink those lips were, or how pale and smooth his skin was, or how long and dark his eyelashes were, casting shadows on his regal cheekbones as his gaze flickered downward before returning to stare into Tony’s eyes again. 

Suddenly Loki pulled away, standing from the bed and walking back toward the window. Tony watched him go, staring at his retreating back in confusion. He cleared his throat as he stood up from the bed as well, dusting the imaginary dirt from his suit pants and walking toward the door. 

“So, I’m gonna,” he started, nodding and closing the door behind him with one final glance towards Loki’s very tense back. 

_ “What the fuck was that?” _ he asked himself, running his fingers through his hair as he made his way back down the stairs and into the living room where Clint still sat. 

“So?” Clint inquired, finishing off what was left of his beer. “What happened?”

Tony took in a deep breath, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the flip phone, going to the contacts and staring at the single name that came up on the grainy screen. 

“It’s about time,” Clint said, standing from his seat and walking into the kitchen to give Tony some space. 

Tony nodded in thanks as he passed, clenching his jaw and resolutely pressing call. 

“… Cap? We have a situation.”

………


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to help out initially, Hœnir is pronounced High-Neer.

“Straighten your posture and widen your stance,” Thor instructed, his voice echoing across the makeshift training room as the Asgardians ran through fighting drills typically reserved for beginners. Thor remembered learning each step from the very first few days of his own training, Tyr remarking on how natural the little Prince had looked wielding a weapon.  

“Keep your body lowered. It’ll help with your balance,” he said to a woman, one of the remaining healers, as he passed by. She nodded with determination in her gaze and adjusted her stance, her footing much more sure.

“Your Highness,” Heimdall called just loud enough to be heard. Thor turned to him, allowing a nearby blacksmith to take over leading the training exercises as he stepped out of the room.

“Heimdall, have you found him?” Thor inquired, setting down the makeshift training sword he had crafted from discarded material found in a storage unit. He silently welcomed Bruce as he too entered the room, wiping sweat from his brow.

“I have,” Heimdall said. “He is with two of your Avengers, Anthony Stark and Clinton Barton. He appears to be safe for the time being.”

Thor let out a small sigh of relief at that.

“That’s good to know, but if you can find Loki, so can Amora,” he stated, scratching at his beard in thought.

Heimdall nodded gravely. “Unfortunately I believe she already has. And she is not alone.”

“Who has she gotten to join her?” Banner asked, crossing his arms tightly

Heimdall hesitated, instantly setting off the alarm bells in Thor’s head

“Heimdall?” he questioned, concern creeping into his tone.

“You would have been too young to remember most of them.” Heimdall began, his gaze distant. “They roamed freely alongside Hela, reeking havoc across the realms. When Odin finally imprisoned Hela, they were not far behind. The last of them was hunted down and banished just after Loki was brought to Asgard as an infant.”

“Who are they,” Thor demanded, his heart pounding. How many more secrets of this nature had his father kept from him?

“Jörmungandr the World Serpent and Fafnir the Dragon,” Heimdall said, the names sounding almost poisonous on his tongue, filling Thor with dread.

“I’ve heard stories of them all, but never could have dreamed they were real,” Thor said, frowning deeply.

“And they’re going after Loki?” Bruce asked.

Heimdall nodded, his fists clenching at his sides.

“And without his magic, I’m afraid he won’t stand much of a chance; not even with help from the Avengers. We need to get to him before Amora can.”

“In the meantime, we must continue training the citizens,” Thor stated, picking up his discarded training sword with new determination.

Heimdall and Bruce both nodded in agreement, heading toward the cockpit together.

Thor took in a deep breath and made his way back into the training room.

“Keep your stance wide, and lower your body. Remember, balance is the key!”

………

Tony didn’t even try to hide his nervous expression as he sat on the porch waiting for Steve to arrive, his stomach turning and his foot tapping the dirt covered ground.

He hadn’t expected an answer when he called, but the phone rang maybe once before Steve answered.

He hadn’t asked for an explanation when Tony told him he needed his help, he’d simply asked for coordinates and told him he’d be there as soon as possible.

Tony didn’t look up as Loki appeared in his peripheral vision, sitting on the porch beside him. Neither spoke, just staring off into the distance together, eyes scanning the huge open field framed with trees.

Finally, Tony turned to look at him fully. His hair was damp, hanging around his face in dark wavy tendrils that smelled faintly of tangerine. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the Green Arrow logo, and black sweatpants that were just slightly too short, most likely leant to him from Clint.

“Have a good shower?” Tony asked easily as he turned back to stare at the horizon.

Loki nodded, gathering up his still dripping hair in his hands and twisting, wringing it out.

“You should consider taking one as well,” he answered, tellingly looking Tony over.

Tony glanced down at himself, taking in his torn up and dusty suit. He couldn’t exactly smell himself, but he knew he probably didn’t smell great.

“Did you come out here specifically to make fun of me?” Tony teased half heartedly, rubbing a hand through his greasy hair.

“More or less,” Loki answered with a shrug, staring ahead with a more relaxed posture then Tony had ever seen him assume.

They fell into an almost amiable silence, both of them just sitting and watching the horizon together. Tony snuck a glance at Loki. His expression was melancholic, his features slack as if he were lost in thought. The morning sun lit up his pale face, making his eyes look an utterly unearthly green.

Tony looked away as Loki sighed, his stomach leaden as he fidgeted with his hands.

“You… you alright, Frosty?” Tony asked, feeling stupid and regretting his words in almost record time. Of course Loki wasn’t alright.

Loki huffed a humourless laugh, hugging a knee to his chest as he stretched his other leg out.

“I can feel my magic slipping away. My connection to it is fading and I fear it will soon be permanent, though I haven’t the faintest idea what that could mean for me.”

Tony watched as several expressions crossed Loki’s face ranging from thoughtful to pained. He could almost feel the confusion and fear that must be brewing in the gods head.

“Did your mom give you any other clues about what you need to break the spell? Maybe we could cheat the system?”

“No,” Loki sighed, pushing a damp strand of hair behind his ear.

“That’s the one thing about spells from the Old Magic. The spells themselves can be widely interpreted depending on translation, but if there are specific rules listed there is no way around them. To reverse this curse, I need someone born of Asgard with advanced magical ability, but all who would have been able died at Hela’s hand.”

Tony nodded slowly, processing the information with a frown.

“What if there was someone who could help you here; someone from Asgard who was banished like Amora was?”

Loki’s brow shot up.

“How could I have overlooked that,” he said to himself. His eyes brightened as he glanced over to Tony. “Hœnir.”

“High who?” Tony repeated confusedly, watching as Loki rose and started to pace.

“Hœnir. He left Asgard for Vanaheim long ago, but was run out for his failure as their chieftain. There were rumors that he went to Midgard to live out his life in peace.”

“Ok. So if the rumors are true, where would he be?” Tony inquired, standing as well as his energy seemed to be renewed by the prospect of action.

The question gave Loki pause for a moment, his brow furrowing in consideration.

“Somewhere remote. He would be far removed from civilisation.”

“And he would have been there for centuries,” Tony added, Loki nodding in response.

The two glanced up at a sound in the distance. Tony watched with wide eyes as a black unmarked car appeared far across the field, approaching at a steady pace. As it got closer and closer, he could just barely see the outline of Steve’s shoulders in the driver's seat. It pulled up beside Clint’s tractor and parked.

His eyes drifted back to Loki whose face was suddenly carefully blank, his posture tense.

The car doors opened, Steve exiting followed by Natasha, Sam, and, Tony noticed with a sense of dread, Barnes.

“Tony,” Steve greeted, his eyes locked on Loki.

“Cap,” Tony replied cautiously, stepping just slightly between his approaching ex-teammates and Loki.

“I suppose I owe you a bit of an explanation. Don’t worry. I’ve gotten really good at summing this up quickly.”

………

Loki watched the Avengers speak with a sense of detachment. He could feel the distrustful stares directed at him as Stark retold their story for what felt like the millionth time.

He couldn’t help but think of his conversation with Thor before everything had gone wrong.

_“Brother, I swear to you that I will keep you safe just as you’ve done for me. My comrades will not raise a hand against you.”_

If only Thor were there now.

He looked down at his hands in thought. Hœnir hadn’t crossed his mind in centuries. He had been a faithful travel companion, but his dimwittedness had gotten them in trouble on far too many occasions.

If he was indeed somewhere on Midgard, perhaps there was hope for Loki’s magic yet.

Loki glanced up as movement caught his eye, watching Captain Rogers approach him. Their eyes locked, both refusing to look away first.

“You have Tony pretty convinced that you’ve changed. I’d like to believe him, but I have my doubts.”

“As I see it, Captain Rogers, you are entitled to those doubts. However, I feel no need to attempt to earn your trust, nor should you attempt to earn mine. We are united with one goal; to eliminate a common enemy. After the witch is dead, we’ll never have to see one another again.”

The Captain seemed to consider his words for a moment before nodding, holding out his hand.

Loki hesitated for only a moment before gripping the hand and shaking it. The silent truce was made.

………

The silence in the living room was deafening. Tony sat awkwardly on the couch eating dinner that Clint had made alongside his ex-teammates. No words nor glances were shared, everyone keeping their eyes on their plates as they ate.

Tony was reminded of the time after the battle of New York when they all sat at a table in the wrecked Shwarma Palace, too exhausted to speak as they ate.

He never thought he would recall that memory and bask in it as if it were a simpler time.

“So… is, uh, Loki not coming down to eat?” Clint asked, breaking the almost hour long silence.

“Did you expect him to?” Tony shot back, taking another bite of his beef stew. Clint shrugged in response, almost sheepishly slouching over his own stew.

“I mean, he’s done nothing I expected so far,” he trailed off.

“Does he even need to eat?” Sam questioned.

“If he’s anything like Thor. Dude needed food constantly or he’d be at risk of eating the furniture,” Clint replied.

Small smiles passed over each face in the room. The mood almost began to lighten.

“He isn’t, though,” Tony stated after a moment. “He isn’t like Thor. That’s why he hasn’t been able to undo the curse.”

“What do you mean?” Natasha questioned from beside Clint, sharp eyes narrowing.

“Loki comes from a totally different realm; somewhere called Jotunheim.”

“Land of the Frost Giants,” Sam said thoughtfully. All eyes turned to him and he crossed his arms.

“Listen, I’m allowed to know shit. While we were on the way here I studied Norse mythology so I’d know a little bit more about who we’d be dealing with.”

Tony couldn’t stifle his laugh, Steve and Clint soon following. Natasha and Barnes both smiled quietly, their version of laughter Tony supposed.

Suddenly a blinding flash of gold lit up the evening sky, glinting through the windows. A loud thump followed and each Avenger was on their feet and hurrying out the door in seconds.

The group came to an abrupt halt at the sight of a figure groaning and spitting grass out of his mouth.

“Strange?” Tony said, stepping closer to the man. Bruises and bleeding cuts covered his usually dignified face as he glanced up at Tony.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Strange grunted as he managed to get himself to his feet, opening a small pocket of space and pulling out a metal suitcase, a tablet, and clothing and dropping them carefully in front of Tony.

“You got my Mark 50,” Tony said, running his fingers over the case.

Strange nodded, glancing over Tony’s shoulder. Tony followed his gaze, spotting Loki approaching, pushing past a wary Sam. The battered sorcerer reached back into his space pocket, pulling out a neat bundle of black and green leather.

Loki took his armor, his fingertips trailing over the seams thoughtfully. He nodded his thanks.

“I tried to get more, but Amora has enchanted civilians posted outside of your home in Malibu, Stark Tower, and within a block of my personal residence in Greenwich Village. I suppose she isn’t particularly happy about my interference,” Strange said with a smirk as he pulled one final thing, a large leather bound book, from the pocket of space before closing it with a flourish.

He handed it to Loki, who took it with an air of wonder. Tony glanced it over, eyes following the swirling patterns delicately carved into the worn brown leather. He was unable to discern the language scrawled across the cover and spine in ink of molten gold that seemed almost alive.

“How did you get this?” Loki asked, absently handing his armor to Tony who took it with an indignant look.

“Amora stole it from the library at Kamar-Taj, a sanctum under my protection. I simply took it back.”

“Why was this in your library to begin with?” Loki shot back, suddenly looking at Strange suspiciously.

“I have no real answer for that. It was collected by the Ancient One before my time.”

Loki opened the enormous book, the rest of the group coming in closer to see. The pages seemed to glow, illuminating his face.

“What is this?” Steve asked carefully from beside Tony.

“This is a book of Seithr, Old Magic, very similar to the one I was taught from as a child,” Loki answered almost absently as he flipped through the pages. He finally stopped on one, whispering the ancient language as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“This is the curse Amora used to block my magic.” He flipped to the back of the page, running his fingertips over the golden ink. “And this is the countercurse.”

Strange sighed, creating a portal large enough to step through. Steve, Barns, Sam, and Natasha stared at it warily, tensely widening their stances.

“Now that you have those, I’m going to go back to my place and recover. If you need me, just call. I put my number in your tablet.”

Without another word, Strange limped through the portal and it closed.

“So that was the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, huh?” Sam said, still staring at the place Strange had disappeared from.

“Yup,” Tony said, setting Loki’s armor on top of the book he was still looking over. The god narrowed his eyes but did nothing.

Tony bent to pick up his clothes, tablet, and case.

“So, now that we have that,” he said, motioning to the book, “We just need to find High-ho or whoever it is and go get your mojo back.”

“Hœnir,” Loki corrected automatically, adjusting his grip on the book and his armour as he made his way back towards the house. Tony followed.

“Who’s Hœnir?” Steve questioned, falling into step beside Tony.

“An Asgardian who is hopefully still alive and on Earth who might be able to cast the countercurse.”

“What do you know about him?” Natasha chimed in as they entered the house, going immediately to the couches. Loki seemed to hesitate in front of the stairs before tensely joining them, setting the book and armour down on the kitchen table.

“He used to be a travel companion for Thor and I when we were children. He would take us on visits to the markets of Alfheim, or to explore the caves and mines of Myrkheim.

“At the conclusion of Asgard’s war with Vanaheim, a neighboring realm of beings similar to the Aesir, he was sent as a hostage to the western realm along with one other. Asgard in return received three of the Vanir. Hœnir became the chieftain of the Vanir, as they believed him to be very wise, but they soon discovered his wisdom was false and drove him out.

“It was rumored that he fled to Midgard, but this was centuries ago. It could merely be hearsay.”

“Where on earth would he hide if the rumours were true?” said Barnes, his voice quiet but very serious. Tony forced back a frown as bad memories flooded his mind, trying his best to ignore them.

“I recall he was rather fond of warmer climates, marshes or swamps,” Loki answered.

“And he would be in hiding?” Steve added.

“Yes. He was always rather fearful, anxious. I have no doubt he would be hiding in the furthest corner of some untouched land; somewhere Midgardians would not soon go.”

“But he’d have been there for centuries. Surely someone would have come across him in all that time. Maybe we should look into some folklore involving men in swamps?” Clint added.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Tony said, quickly picking up his tablet and unlocking it. “Describe him to me, Bambi”

Loki didn’t seem to even notice the nickname, approaching Tony to look at the screen of the tablet.

“He was very tall, even for an Asgardian, regarded by many as quite handsome. He had light hair, blue eyes, and a long beard.”

“Let’s see… so we’re looking for someone who is male presenting, very tall, with Asgardian physiology so really heavy and hench, who resides in a swamp.”

Tony tapped search and frowned immediately.

“Ok. Maybe I need to refine the search a bit because all I’m getting are Shrek memes.”

“There,” Loki said, tapping a picture.

“Um. The Florida Skunk Ape?” Tony said, looking at Loki questioningly.

“It’s possible,” Loki snapped back, zooming in on the blurry picture.

“You’re saying this dude came to earth centuries ago and became Bigfoot?”

“No, I’m saying that this creature is the correct size and stature and seems to reside in the correct location to be a distracting illusion created by an Asgardian that doesn’t wish to be found.”

Tony took in his words silently, looking around the room at his ex-teammates.

“Ok. Well, I guess we’re going to the Everglades.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my updates are taking a long time. I’m going through some shit right now and writing has become difficult. I’m trying to keep this story enjoyable to not only read, but also to write. 
> 
> It is my goal to make this story not only longer then I was initially going to make it, but as accurate in the context of Norse Mythology as Marvel canon will allow, because Norse Mythology is weird and wonderful. 
> 
> Thank you for your support and patience!
> 
> ~Cynical


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning for those who need it. There is a bit of violence in this chapter. Nothing too graphic, but keep that in mind. 
> 
> ~Cynical

Tony took in a deep breath, his steady hand gently pulling up a small panel on the arc reactor attached to his chest that contained his Mark L. His forehead was damp with sweat as he concentrated on his reflection in the hand mirror he had propped up against a box, totally in his element.

He really had been thankful when Strange gave him his tech. He had missed Friday and the distraction that technology provided was incredibly necessary after the past few days.

He reached in slowly with a pair of tweezers borrowed from Clint’s wife, pressing gently against the correct wire. With a smile, he closed the panel back up and pushed the arc reactor in, twisting it very slightly.

He grinned as the left arm of his suit formed along his arm, his malfunctioning warp drive flickering sadly from where it was built into his wrist.

“Ok,” he mumbled, leaning down to look over the damaged device. He paused abruptly when he spotted movement beside him, gripping the tweezers tightly.

“Shit, Sparkles. Make a sound when you enter a room. I could’ve blown up the barn,” Tony said, not quite annoyed as he glanced up towards Loki.

The gods face was smug for a moment before his expression returned to the usual eyebrow quirk and slight frown.

“You’ve been in here for nine hours. I wondered what you were doing,” Loki said honestly, reaching down and running his fingertips over a spanner.

Tony raised an eyebrow, eyes following his movements absently.

“What, did you miss me?” Tony teased, meeting Loki’s curious green gaze.

“I didn’t appreciate being left alone with your teammates, all of whom would rather see me rotting in a cell then at their dinner table eating vegetable stew.”

Tony snorted at that, setting down the tweezers.

“Understandable. Well, my first two hours in here were just setup, trying to create a makeshift workspace. The rest of it was just repair work on my suit. I was just about to tinker with my lightspeed device.”

Loki nodded, walking around the table. Tony noticed for the first time that Loki was no longer wearing his borrowed clothing, instead in his familiar silken green shirt with the laces untied, soft black leather pants, and knee high boots.

“So your armor comes from this?” Loki inquired, fingertips ghosting over the arc reactor fixed to Tony’s chest.

The genius suddenly found it hard to answer immediately, his brain stuttering to a halt.

“Uh-huh,” he said dumbly. Loki didn’t seem to notice the odd response, his eyes not leaving the glowing blue device.

“Intriguing,” Loki said, walking around the makeshift worktable to stand before Tony, much closer than Tony had ever thought he’d be comfortable with.

“What?” Tony asked, sweat beading on his forehead as his pulse sped up.

“It seems you’ve managed to create armor that functions in a way that is not unlike Asgardian armor. Perhaps a more roundabout and complicated way of achieving a similar result, but there is still much to be said about that.”

“Oh no,” Tony said, shaking his head and tapping on the arc reactor. “This is nanotechnology, not whatever magic stuff you guys do.”

“Stark, Magic is simply science you don’t yet understand.”

“Listen,” Tony said, turning to better face Loki. “As cool as it would be to figure out how one of your magic tricks works on a scientific level, I don’t think I’d be able to achieve that in my lifetime.”

Loki’s eyes seemed to shine with mischief. Tony was instantly drawn into the glow like a sailor to a sirens song.

“Well, perhaps at some point in the future I could explain it to you on a… scientific level,” Loki said with a smirk, his voice smooth and low enough that Tony had to lean in closer to hear.

Tony smirked in response and those green eyes flickered down to his lips. The inventor could feel his pulse in his ears as he realised just how close Loki was. He took in the fine details of his face for the first time, the arc reactors glow playing off the sharp angles he seemed to be made up of.

His eyes reflected the blue light. Long eyelashes cast their shadow on high, defined cheekbones. Thin, pink lips parted, breath ghosting across Tony’s face.

“Stark,” Loki said, the smirk wiped from his face as he stared at Tony with wide eyes and a furrowed brow.

“Loki,” Tony replied, his voice coming out in little more than a whisper.

At the sound of the barn door opening, the two launched apart, Loki suddenly on the other side of the table and Tony busying himself with looking over a spanner.

Clint stared at them, eyes scanning across the scene until they landed knowingly on Tony.

Without a word, Loki swept past him and out of the barn, Tony trying hard not to watch him go.

Clint said nothing but Tony knew with a sense of dread that the cogs in his head were turning.

Steve stepped in not a moment later and Clint closed the door behind him, leaning against it.

“Is there something I can do for you? I’m a bit busy with repairs and stuff,” Tony said, trying to focus on calming his pounding heart.

“Yeah. Stuff,” Clint said. Steve ignored him, moving closer to Tony and crossing his arms.

“So what’s your plan for retrieving Hœnir?” Steve questioned with no preamble.

Tony glanced up at him, setting down the spanner he was fiddling with.

“The working plan is for me to fly Loki to the Everglades as quickly and with as much dignity as possible and if the Skunk Ape does actually turn out to be Loki’s old adventure buddy, give him the book and get him to cast the countercurse. We’re leaving the second I finish modifying my old Mark 7 for Loki.”

“You’re giving Loki a suit?” Steve exclaimed, his calm demeanor dropping for a moment before he seemed to collect himself.

“Well, the actual suit is old tech and it’s damaged to the point where most of it is unsalvageable. I’m just fixing it up to function as armor so he doesn’t, you know, break every bone in his body by the time we reach Florida. I guess I should also make a harness to make this easier and a little more dignified-“

“So you’re planning to go by yourself with Loki?” Steve interrupted, his brow furrowed.

“Well, I mean, no offense but I’ve got a weight limit for a flight that far and our semi-friendly neighbourhood Frost Giant just barely exceeds that limit. I don’t know how he could possibly be that heavy when he’s built like he is, but-“

“Tony,” Steve said, his face taking on that all too familiar expression of disappointment and worry. “I don’t think going alone with him is a good decision. Maybe you could fly down, find Hœnir, and bring him here?”

“Steve, the only lead we have is that this guy _might_ be casting an illusion of a smelly Sasquatch in Florida. It isn’t a sure thing. There’s also the fact that I don’t know what he looks like, and if I did manage to find him, I’m absolutely certain he wouldn’t go with me willingly.”

Steve frowned at that, running a hand through his hair.

“Maybe one of us could go with him instead?” he pressed.

Tony stood from his seat, walking to the heap of scrap metal Clint allowed him to use.

“So you’re suddenly up for a life changing field trip with Loki?” he said dryly, searching through the pile.

“How would you get there? In that car you drove here in? It’s about a 17 hour drive from Ohio to Florida. With my suit, I could be there in way less than an hour, even with a passenger. You and I both know that time is of the essence here, so which option would you choose? Remember to give me an honest and unbiased answer.”

Steve looked as if he were about to respond but thought better of it, shaking his head tiredly.

“Ok, Tony. Just… be careful,” he said wearily, walking back toward the barn door. Tony refused to look back as he and Clint left, though he could feel Barton’s eyes on the back of his head the entire time.

He let out a long sigh of relief as the door closed, taking his chosen bit of scrap metal back to the table and slumping into the chair. He picked up the tweezers once again and resumed his work from before he was interrupted.

The tweezers once again stopped just short of the panel covering the small lightspeed device as the image of pink lips far closer to him then they’d ever been flashed across his mind.

“Shit.”

………

_The room was dim, only the outline of furniture visible. A feeling of angry suspense filled the air as a figure sat silently in a throne-like chair, tapping long fingernails on the wooden arm; Amora._

_“My Lady,” a gravelly voice spoke, seeming to echo in the previously silent room._

_“Skurge. What news have you for me?” she questioned, her tone no longer the usual poisonously sweet but grave with barely concealed rage._

_“He got away. We don’t know what all he managed to take from Stark’s residence, just that it included a case of some sort and Loki’s personal effects. And…”_

_“The book, Skurge. What. Of. The. Book?” she interrupted, leaning forward in her seat as her nails dug into the upholstery._

_“… He managed to take it from me. But I will get it back! I promise you, my lady, I will not rest unti-“_

_The room lit up a sickly acid green as magic formed into a blade that extended from Amora’s hand toward Skurge’s throat. The man shivered, hardly breathing as he stared directly into the Enchantress’s eyes._

_“You’re right, my darling. You will get my book back, because if you don’t, you shall not have another chance at redemption. And just to make absolutely certain you don’t fail me a third time,” Amora paused, the blade of magic dissolving into flames that hung overhead threateningly._

_“Jörmungandr, kindly accompany my Executioner,” she said as a new figure appeared through the doorway, slinking forward and bowing their head. The green light from the fire reflected off of sharp pale features, a sadistic smile, and glowing eyes that seemed to emanate icy blue fire._

_“And if he fails in his task, show him the true art of an Executioner.”_

_“It would be an honour, Enchantress.”_

_………_

Loki snapped awake with a gasp of air, sitting bolt upright. The springs in the bed creaked loudly beneath him, the only other sound in the room his shaking breaths. He tried to calm his racing heartbeat, gripping the sheets with quivering hands.

“What in the nine was that,” he whispered hoarsely to the open air. His eyes snapped toward the door as footsteps approached it. He reached under his pillow for his dagger Strange had kindly folded into his armor, his fingertips brushing along the cool familiar hilt. For just a moment, he recalled the image of the strange figure Amora had spoken to.

_“Jörmungandr.”_

Just remembering that name, that voice, sent a shiver down Loki’s spine. Where had he heard it before?

“Loki?” Stark called from the other side of the door.

Before Loki could answer, the door was pulled open and Stark was rushing in without hesitation.

“Ok, I’m sorry for not knocking, but I was excited to tell you that I-“ Stark’s words came to a halt as he stared open mouthed and wide eyed.

Loki raised an eyebrow, releasing his grip on the knife and consciously adjusting the shirt he’d borrowed to sleep in. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but Stark continued before he could form the words.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said, clearing his throat. For just a moment, Loki thought he spotted a tinge of pink on the inventors cheeks.

“You barged into my room for a surprise?” Loki said blankly, pushing his hair out of his eyes and kicking off the blanket. He stretched leisurely before standing, walking to the dresser and picking up the hairbrush he was leant.

Stark was curiously silent as he took the time to brush out his hair. He supposed the other man was just impatient to show him whatever he had in store.

Finishing with the brush, Loki set it down and plucked up a hair tie, gathering his hair up and tying it as neatly as his patience would allow.

“So what is this surprise?” he asked as he turned towards Stark. Large brown doe eyes blinked as if their owner were snapping back to reality and Stark shook his head.

“Right! Follow me!” he said as he turned and walked out the door.

Loki moved to follow him, his steps faltering as those last words once again echoed through his mind.

_“It would be an honour, Enchantress.”_

“You ok?” Stark inquired, peeking his head back around the doorframe.

“I… I’m fine,” he lied. A lump formed in his throat, but he ignored it. It wouldn’t do to worry over what could be just a dream.

Haunting fiery blue eyes flashed through his mind and he braced himself on the dresser. Stark was there in a flash, hands hovering hesitantly in front of him, not touching him but prepared to if need be.

“Loki, what’s going on?”

His eyes were so earnest, and for a moment Loki considered telling him, but he shook his head.

“I was just dizzy for a moment. I’m fine.”

Stark looked unconvinced, but nodded reluctantly. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. Now, I thought you were leading me to that surprise?”

Tony smiled and motioned for Loki to follow.

“Right you are. I think you’ll be pretty psyched about this. It took me longer than I thought it would, but it was totally worth it.”

Loki felt his stomach drop, Stark’s excited babbling fading into the background.

_‘Jörmungandr.’_

This was bad.

………

“Through here,” Tony said, unable to hold back his excitement as he pushed open the barn doors. Loki followed behind him with his typical blank expression, but Tony didn’t mind.

“Here we are,” he said with a grin, motioning to a metal box resting on the makeshift worktable.

Loki approached it carefully, glancing several times back and forth from it to Tony.

“Here,” Tony said, very slowly and gently taking Loki’s hands. The god looked straight at him now, watching him like a hawk with that same carefully blank expression.

Tony guided his hands to two handles on the flat side of the box.

“Ok. Grab these handles and twist, the left one clockwise, the right one counterclockwise.”

Loki did as Tony instructed, jumping when shiny silver and green armor covered his arms up to his elbows.

“Stark, is this what I think it is?”

“Twist the handles back into their previous position and lift the case, then pull your arms apart,” Tony said, positively giddy.

Loki followed his directions, the armor quickly taking full shape on him, hugging his lithe form perfectly. Tony’s grin widened as the faceplate formed and clamped down, the arc reactor lighting up and bringing the suit to life.

“How does it feel?” Tony asked, walking around Loki, looking him up and down. The paint job wasn’t perfect, silver showing through the green, but Tony supposed he could fix that when they didn’t have such a time crunch.

“Does it fit ok? I used the measurements we got for your suit and left a little extra room for your leather armor to fit comfortably underneath.”

“Stark, why did you do this?” Loki asked, bringing his hands up to better look over himself.

“It’ll make our flight to Florida much easier. We could be there in around 45 minutes this way! Of course, the suit doesn’t have flight capabilities since those parts weren’t salvageable with the available materials, so I made a harness that’ll help us out a little, though it might look kind of ridiculous, but I thought it was maybe the most practical way to get from point a to point b.”

Loki became quiet for a moment before his shoulders deflated slightly, his entire body relaxing.

“Thank you,” he said, almost too softly for Tony to hear.

“What was that?” Tony asked, a shit-eating smirk stretching across his face.

When Loki didn’t reply, Tony hesitated for only a moment before leaning in closer to reach up and manually raise the faceplate.

Loki’s eyes met his and Tony couldn’t look away.

“I said thank you, Stark,” Loki repeated, his gaze not faltering though his cheeks took on a very slight pink tinge.

“No problem,” Tony said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Now, this next part might be a little weird, but it’ll get us where we need to go with minimal struggling. Here.”

Loki raised an eyebrow as Tony set the harness in his hands, looking almost amused.

“I will not ride to our destination on your back,” he said with an air of finality, handing the harness back.

“Then we can fasten you to my chest. I prefer being on top anyway.”

Unimpressed green eyes bore into him and Tony tried his best to keep a straight face as he fiddled with the harness.

“Alright. Let’s gather our supplies and prepare for takeoff.”

………

The trip took far less time than Tony had predicted. Loki hadn’t objected to being strapped to Tony’s chest; in fact he had been completely silent the entire way there. If Tony didn’t know better he’d swear he left Loki behind and just brought his suit.

He couldn’t help but think back to that morning. Seeing Loki freshly out of bed, still in his pyjamas, his hair loose and messy, had taken him quite by surprise. He hadn’t known Loki’s hair was that naturally curly. And when he’d gotten out of bed with his slightly too short shirt and his sweatpants hanging low on his hips, and he reached up to brush those silky curls into some semblance of order, his shirt rising even higher to display the pale skin of his taut stomach-

 _‘No. Bad Tony,’_ he berated himself internally, forcing that thought from his mind. It wouldn’t do to get distracted, especially not with thoughts like that while they were flying 40,000 feet above the Everglades.

When they touched down, landing in a marsh with water up to their knees, Loki was quick to unfasten the harness, stepping away from Tony to survey their surroundings.

Marshland stretched on for miles in every direction, as far as the eye could see, covered in a thick jungle of trees and vines. They had landed in what seemed to be a shallow section of a much longer river, surrounded by a wall of trees they could hardly see past. Tony took in a deep breath, the air that filtered in through his helmet damp but very fresh.

Tony had only been in Florida a handful of times. He had always preferred cooler, less horribly humid climates.

“So this is the Everglades,” Loki said as Tony dropped their bag of supplies on the raised dry ground and shoved the harness in. He was quite frankly shocked that the old shield bag had held up against the sheer speed they had gone, but he chose not to think too hard on it.

“Here,” he said as he tossed Loki his knife. The god caught it without looking and Tony had to take a moment to really reflect on why that excited him so much.

“It’s unbearably hot,” Loki commented, glancing back toward Tony.

“Welcome to Florida. It should feel a bit cooler toward the evening.”

With a grunt, Tony lugged the bag back over his shoulder. He looked over to what seemed to be a natural entrance into the thick brush and trees, motioning for Loki to follow him to it.

“So does this still seem like a place your buddy would be hiding?”

Tony could feel the eyeroll through Loki’s faceplate as he fell into step beside him.

“It does.”

“Great. Now, I should warn you before we go too far in. The wildlife in here tends to be very dangerous. We’re going to need to be very cautious and-“

Tony froze in place, staring down into the water beside Loki with wide eyes.

“Loki don’t move,” he said as a rather large python twisted up Loki’s armored leg, making its way to his shoulder. Tony raised his arm, ready to fire off a warning shot at the huge reptile.

“Stark, we have not the time for this,” Loki said, clearly annoyed as he reached over and gently grabbed the python, easily removing it and setting it on the ground where it slithered away harmlessly.

Tony stared after it in shock, glancing back to Loki when it disappeared fully into the brush. “What are you, a reptile whisperer? Do you speak parseltongue?”

Loki resolutely ignored him, raising his knife and cutting through a large cluster of vines that lead to a dryer path. Tony followed him, still a bit bewildered.

They walked for what felt like miles, trudging through the endless marsh. Tony honestly had no clue where they were in relation to where they had started, each rock and tree and pool of swampy water looking exactly the same as the next.

“Friday, what time is it?” he asked as Loki slashed at more vines blocking their path.

 _“The time is 15:21, Boss.”_ Friday answered. Tony sighed loudly.

“We got here at 10:00. We’ve been walking for five hours.”

Loki stopped hacking at the vines for a moment, raising his faceplate and glancing at Tony.

“I’m sure Hœnir is here, Stark. If we don’t find him in the next hour, we’ll make camp and-”

Tony and Loki glanced up as twigs snapped nearby. Loki lowered his faceplate, twirling his knife expertly to adjust his grip. Tony raised both arms as more branches and twigs snapped, closer this time then the last.

“What is that?” Loki hissed.

“It could be a Panther. Or a bear,” Tony answered quietly, trying to control his breathing.

“It’s coming from the clearing,” Loki whispered, motioning to his left. Tony nodded, moving toward the area as quietly as he could manage. Loki followed, motioning for Tony to stop when they reached the centre of the small area. They stood in utter silence for a minute, hardly breathing as they listened for any sign of the creature nearing them.

Suddenly a loud roar pierced the air as an enormous shape emerged from the trees, shambling toward them. Tony charged his repulsors, firing above the creature twice. It never faltered in its path, coming closer and closer.

Loki jumped in front of Tony, raising his own hand. The creature halted just in front of them and Tony took in its appearance clearly for the first time.

It towered over them at about 7 feet tall, covered in matted dark brown fur. It was built like some sort of bear, ape hybrid and the stench coming from it was borderline unbearable.

“Holy shit,” Tony breathed, his heart beating out of his chest.

The beast leaned right into Loki’s face, opening its enormous slobbering maw and roaring.

Loki retracted his helmet into the neckline of the suit, now eye to eye with the Skunk Ape. The creature seemed to look him over before, in a flash of gold, he transformed into a tall man with shaggy blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and an unkempt beard.

“Loki,” he said, his tone almost reverent as he stepped forward, placing a large hand on Loki’s cheek.

“Hœnir,” Loki greeted. “I’m here to-“

Loki was cut off abruptly, grunting as Hœnir engulfed him in a spine crushing hug.

“Loki! You’ve come for me at last! How long has it been? Nearly a thousand years?”

Loki pulled back from the hug, opening his mouth to speak when Hœnir grabbed him by his chin, turning his head to look him over.

“My how you’ve grown! You were but a child when I left, now look at you! What a handsome young man you’ve become!” he said with a quirked brow, twirling a loose strand of Loki’s hair around a finger.

“Ok! As heartwarming as this reunion is, we have business to attend to,” Tony interjected, raising his own faceplate.

Hœnir looked upon him with a frown, grabbing Loki’s hand that held his knife and moving it so the blade was pointed at Tony.

“Who is this, Loki? Tell me you haven’t brought someone of Vanaheim to take me back. I will not follow in Mimir’s footsteps and lose my head.”

Loki shoved Hœnir off of him with an annoyed grunt.

“No, he is not Vanir. He’s Midgardian, and he’s here for my safety.”

“Your safety?” Hœnir said, looking over Tony and wrinkling his nose. “I doubt that this mortal could keep you safe more effectively then you yourself could, what with your affinity toward sorcery.”

Tony grimaced at that, his anger growing.

“That’s why we’re here, Hœnir. You remember Amora Incantare, don’t you?” Loki questioned.

“How could I forget her,” Hœnir responded, not taking his eyes off of Tony in a silent challenge that Tony was only too happy to accept.

“Well, 6 years ago she…” Loki paused, suddenly looking exhausted as if remembering the past was too much to handle.

“Do you have somewhere less open where we could talk?” he asked. Hœnir nodded, placing a hand on the small of Loki’s back over the suit.

“This way. It’s a short walk.”

Tony frowned deeply at the display, following behind them silently.

True to his word, Hœnir led them down a nearby path until they reached a gigantic solid trunk of a tree. Around the curve, Tony spotted a rather large Alligator staring back at them hungrily.

Hœnir walked on, leading Loki right up to the trunk before walking through and disappearing. Tony stared blankly, trying his best to process what he had seen.

He took in a deep breath, following Hœnir and Loki’s example and simply walking through the tree. When he opened his eyes he hadn’t remembered closing, his jaw dropped.

He was standing in a huge green clearing with a hut in the centre.  Small ponds were scattered throughout the clearing with numerous foreign plants growing around them. Rays of sunlight shone brightly through the gaps in the canopy of branches and vines above, feeling pleasantly warm on Tony’s face.

Hœnir walked through the door of the hut, Loki and Tony following suit. The place was filled with handmade furniture, wooden chairs and a table in the corner, a bench under a hole in the roof that functioned like a skylight. Plants overtook the walls and peeked through the wooden floorboards, making the floor uneven in some places.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Hœnir said with a grin. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

“You built this place yourself?” Tony inquired, looking over the details carved into the wooden walls, the intricate patterns on the furniture. “How many people have found you here?”

“No one has ever found me before. As a matter of fact, you're the first visitors I’ve ever had since I landed in this spot nearly a thousand years ago. Kind of hard for Midgardians to stumble upon this place when it’s protected in a magical barrier.”

Loki removed the suit the way Tony had shown him, setting the case it formed on the wooden table before sitting on the bench.

Tony tapped his arc reactor, the armor plating retracting but leaving behind the under armor. He moved to sit beside Loki but Hœnir shoved past him, taking the seat for himself. Tony gritted his teeth, sitting on the floor.

“Let me start from the beginning,” Loki said, staring at his hands.

With a somber expression, he retold the story of how he’d found out his true heritage, of how he’d willingly fallen from the Bifrost, hoping against hope that he would simply drift into oblivion.

Tony felt his heart clench at the thought of Loki floating aimlessly through space. He felt the need to comfort him, but quashed it as Loki continued.

“Asgard thought me dead, but Amora knew better. She found me at my most vulnerable. She enthralled me, pulling me into her plot to take over Midgard. We were defeated, the enchantment breaking when I was… smashed into the ground.”

Tony met his eyes with a knowing look.

“I was taken back to Asgard and kept in the dungeons, but Amora was imprisoned personally by Odin, sent off to some small pocket of space to pay for her crimes. When Odin died-“

“Odin’s dead?” Hœnir repeated, not quite looking surprised but rather melancholic. “I thought I had felt his presence extinguished, but I had hoped I was wrong.”

“His death released all who were imprisoned by his magic, including Amora. Now she’s on a warpath, determined to destroy not only what remains of Asgard, but Midgard as well.”

“So why have you come here? You of all people know I would never agree to join a battle of any scale, let alone one against Amora.”

“She cursed my magic, Hœnir,” Loki said gravely, finally making eye contact with him. “She locked it away inside of me and separated me from Thor. I need you to perform the countercurse.”

Hœnir stood from the bench, pacing the area anxiously.

“Loki, I haven’t performed anything past small illusions and Vanir nature charms in nearly a millennia. I don’t know if I could access the power needed for Seithr.”

“You have to try,” Loki insisted, standing as well. “Stark, give him the book.”

Tony nodded, pulling off the bag and fishing inside. He took out the huge spellbook, handing it to Loki who shoved it toward Hœnir.

“Please. I need your help.”

Hœnir reached toward the book slowly, hesitantly, until his fingers brushed across the leather spine. He took in a deep breath and accepted the book, opening it to the marked page.

“ᛁ ᛏᚨᚴᛖ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚤᛟᚢ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᚷᛁᚠᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛋᛖᛁᛏᚺᚱ ᛟᚾᛚᚤ ᛒᚤ ᚨᛖᛋᛁᚱ ᚺᚨᚾᛞ ᛋᚺᚨᛚᛚ ᛁᛏ ᛒᛖ ᚱᛖᛏᚢᚱᚾᛖᛞ.” He stumbled over the words of the ancient language, looking increasingly nervous.

“What is he saying?” Tony whispered as Hœnir repeated the phrase with little improvement.

“There is no true translation for your language, but it roughly means; I take from you your gift of Seithr, only by Aesir hand shall it be returned.”

“That’s the countercurse? That sounds like he’s just trying to take your magic again.”

“The spell is reversed when the castor repeats it. That is typical for Old Magic. It gets more elaborate the later you go,” Loki stated.

“I believe it would be wise to go outside for this. After so long without accessing this level of magic, I don’t know what might happen,” Hœnir said, his nerves clear on his bearded face.

Loki nodded in agreement, allowing Hœnir to lead the way. Tony followed, grabbing the case containing Loki’s suit and tucking it safely into the backpack.

“Ok. I think I’m ready,” Hœnir said as he stopped a good few feet from his hut, reaching out to Loki and pulling him closer. He placed his hand on Loki’s chest, taking a deep shaking breath.

“You can do it,” Loki whispered, his words and his expression shockingly gentle. “Just focus.”

Hœnir began to chant, squeezing his eyes shut. He stumbled over his words, his face scrunching up in concentration. The leather of Loki’s armor creaked under his fingers as he pressed harder, his fingertips beginning to glow gold.

Tony glanced up from the display as a strange sound echoed in the distance. He wondered briefly if bears could get through magical Asgardian barriers.

Hœnir’s entire body began to shake with effort before he dropped his arm and let out a laboured breath.

“I’m sorry, Loki.”

“Don’t worry. Just try again,” Loki insisted as another sound, this one a bit clearer, sounded a little ways away from the barrier.

“That was definitely not a bear,” Tony said, hand immediately going to his arc reactor as he looked to the entrance.

“Guys, something is going on out there. Maybe try to hurry it up.”

Hœnir grit his teeth, once again pressing his hand over Loki’s heart and reciting the spell. The golden glow was far brighter this time, but seemed to blink in and out. Sweat began to bead on his brow, his voice strained.

Tony gasped as a loud bang sounded, shaking the trees surrounding the clearing. Two more followed in quick succession when suddenly a large crack appeared on the entrance of the barrier.

“Oh shit,” Tony breathed, turning towards Loki and Hœnir.

“Guys, I think we have company!”

“Hush, Stark. Hœnir keep going. You’re almost there,” Loki urged.

The light coming from Hœnir’s hand extinguished as another strike against the barrier formed even more cracks. Loki gripped the taller Asgardian by the shoulders, turning him to face him.

“Hœnir,” he pleaded, shaking him by the shoulders once. “Try again. Please.”

Hœnir clenched his jaw, chanting louder than before. The golden light grew and grew, drawing Tony’s eye. It was the most beautiful thing Tony had ever seen, the magical energy glittering and swirling in patterns across Loki’s chest.

Tony was pulled from his thoughts as one final bang sounded. A gigantic crack spanned from the ground, arching over the ceiling of the barrier. Before Tony could breath, the barrier shattered into dust, revealing Skurge standing just behind a cloaked figure with their outstretched hand engulfed in icy blue magic.

Without hesitation, Tony summoned his armor around him, charging his repulsors and firing. The cloaked figure vanished from their previous spot.

“What the-“

Tony was cut off as the stranger reappeared in front of him, eyes like icy blue fire boring into him. Tony tried to step back, but the stranger had him by the throat before he could move, lifting him and throwing him through the wall of the hut. He landed with a loud crash against the opposite wall.

Tony groaned as he shoved a slab of broken wall off of his chest, forcing himself to his feet. His eyes widened as he spotted Skurge approaching Hœnir and Loki, his ax raised.

“Loki! What are you doing? Go!” Tony yelled as he activated his repulsors, firing on the approaching Executioner and sending him rolling backwards. The cloaked stranger turned toward him and flicked their wrist and Tony yelped as the roof of the hut came down on him.

“Friday, get me in the air,” he grunted out with effort. He braced himself as his rockets activated, his suit breaking through the wreckage. From the air, he fired down at Skurge and the stranger, managing to keep them distracted.

“Loki! We need to go!” he called.

When Loki didn’t move, Tony shot downward toward him, landing a few feet away.

The stranger turned to him, blue fire emanating from their hands. Tony could just barely see a twisted smile beneath the low hood before that blue fire was being blasted at him.

He summoned a shield, digging his heels into the ground as the force of the fire drove him backwards.

“Loki!” Tony called, desperately trying to get the other man's attention as Skurge neared.  

Hœnir’s chanting drowned out Tony’s pleas, the golden light getting brighter, no longer flickering.

“Loki!” Tony yelled as Skurge reached out toward him. Before he could think he de-summoned his shield, racing forward and grabbing Loki around the waist. He clenched his jaw tightly as he brought his hand to his left wrist, pressing in the button for the warp drive and twisting.

“No!” Loki screamed out as their surroundings began to warp out of focus.

Skurge roared in anger, bringing his ax down hard into Hœnir’s chest. The last thing Tony saw before they disappeared fully was the golden glow surrounding Hœnir dimming as he fell to the ground, blue eyes wide open and lifeless.

………

Loki grunted in pain as he landed on the hard ground, skidding a few feet before coming to a stop. Dust filled his vision and he coughed, struggling to sit up.

 _‘What was_ that _,’_ he thought to himself, trying his best to regulate his breathing.

He heard the telltale sounds of Stark desummoning his armor a short distance away, the other man panting loudly.

_‘We just teleported. How did he…’_

“Hey. You ok, Sparkles?” Stark breathed, groaning as he sat up. “Oh man. I can’t believe that worked. We’re only a short walk away from Clint’s house.”

“Why did you do that,” Loki ground out, managing to force himself to his feet to stare down at the mortal.  

“What do you mean why? We were in danger. I had to get us out of there,” Stark answered, looking almost confused.

“No. It was too soon. Hœnir was almost there. I could feel the curse lifting!” Loki insisted, his voice quivering with raw emotion. He couldn’t think, the only thing running through his mind was Hœnir’s face as Skurge’s ax came down.

“It wouldn’t have been any good if you were killed! I’m sorry, Sparkles, but I did what I had to do.”

“I’m as good as dead regardless!” Loki yelled, cradling his head in his hands as a wave of nausea hit him, sending him into a dizzy spell.

“What do you mean?” Stark questioned, approaching and placing a hand on Loki’s arm.

Loki sighed, no longer possessing the energy to push him away.

“My magic is a part of me, Stark. Without it,” he paused, his chest tightening as he tried to breathe steadily. “Without it I will grow weaker and weaker until I eventually die.”

Stark’s hand tightened on his arm, his expression unreadable.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his voice low and his tone grave.

Loki finally managed to shrug out of his grip, shooting him as close to a glare as he could manage.

“Shocking as it may seem, I owe you nothing, Stark,” he snapped.

Stark seemed to think for a moment, deep brown eyes meeting Loki’s. The god was instantly struck with regret for his harsh words. Stark shook his head, running his fingers through his hair absently.

“I know you don’t,” he finally said, biting his lip. “But we’re in this together. A little trust would be nice.”

Loki pressed his lips together thoughtfully, his brow furrowing. He opened his mouth to reply, hesitating shortly but forcing himself to continue.

“You want me to trust you… Does that mean you trust me?”

Stark was poised to respond when a voice cut in.

“Tony, what happened?” Captain Rogers called out as he approached at a jog.

“Steve,” Stark greeted, giving Loki one last glance before turning to face his ex teammate.

“Skurge found us. And he had help.”

Loki flinched at that, images from his dream flashing through his mind.

Rogers looked to Loki concernedly.

“What about Hœnir?” he inquired.

“Dead,” Loki said simply.

Rogers took in a long deep breath, turning once more to Tony with a somber expression.

“Let’s get back to the house. We’ll talk later.”

Loki frowned at his tone but began to walk, wanting nothing more than to curl up in his borrowed bed and sleep. He heard Stark and Rogers move to follow him.

He couldn’t help it as his thoughts drifted back to Stark’s device. He had called it a simple lightspeed device.

Loki was certain he didn’t know how wrong he was.

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit to get this one up. My best friends just got married and I was the Maid of Honour. If you’d like to see some wedding pics and shenanigans, my Instagram is @suburbanbogwitch
> 
> Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We’re really getting into the story now. Hopefully the next chapter should be out soon. Feel free to comment, it makes my day, and thank you for reading!
> 
> ~Cynical


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible trigger warnings:
> 
> This chapter has some minor violence. Nothing super graphic but be warned. There’s also a scene with hinted non-con, but once again, nothing graphic. 
> 
> ~Cynical

Tony tried to keep his cool as his ex-teammates stood across from him, all looking different levels of concerned, exasperated, and pissed. They’d barred Loki from the room, much to his annoyance, and Tony explained the full story of what had happened with Hœnir, watching Steve’s expression in particular grow more pinched and clearly aggravated.

“Tony,” Steve finally said when Tony had finished speaking. Tony almost flinched at the tone, feeling the oncoming lecture from a mile away.  

“I told you one of us should have gone with you.”

“I doubt it would have gone much better with any of you there. We only managed to escape because of my lightspeed thing.”

“And what if you hadn’t had that device with you, Tony?” Steve challenged, crossing his arms tightly like a mother scolding her child.

“But I did, so I don’t see what the problem is,” Tony snapped back, mirroring the posture and leveling Steve with a glare.

“The problem, Tony, is that you put far too much trust into someone who doesn’t deserve it,” Steve replied surprisingly bitingly.

Tony frowned deeply, clenching his fists as he took a sharp step forward.

“So that’s what this is about. You don’t trust Loki.”

“You trust him too much,” Steve shot back, his brow lowering and his cheeks reddening in anger.

“Oh yeah? Is that really it or do you just not trust me?” Tony spat, taking another challenging step toward Steve.

“That’s not it, Tony. We just think your judgement when it comes to Loki might be a bit… clouded,” Clint cut in, fumbling at those last words.

Tony turned his glare to the archer who met it with an almost guilty look.

_‘Oh. That’s what this is about.’_

………

Loki huffed in utter annoyance as he paced the hall outside of the room he had been locked out of.

Hœnir was dead, his magic was doomed, and the Avengers were taking the time to squabble amongst themselves.

_‘Typical.’_

He sighed as he sank down into the couch, letting his mind wander back to Stark. The man had managed to create a device that perfectly mirrored Loki’s own teleportation abilities and he believed it to simply be a lightspeed device. The man was most assuredly a genius, but a close-minded one.

Loki glanced up as the argument in the other room grew louder. Without hesitation, he moved toward the door to try and listen, just barely hearing Stark on the other side.

“Listen, Cap. Regardless of the fact that what you're accusing me of is utter bullshit, what I do in my personal life is absolutely none of your business,” Stark stated, his voice straining with barely concealed anger.

“It’s no longer your personal business when it interferes with your safety, Tony,” Rogers replied, sounding a bit calmer though that wasn’t saying much.

“Safety? The guy has no access to his magic! What’s he going to do, sarcasm me to death?”

“Without his magic he is just as dangerous!” Rogers yelled. Loki raised a brow at that.

“I know he’s dangerous, but he isn’t inclined to hurt any of us, especially while we’re helping his cause!” Tony replied, his volume rising to match. “He just wants his brother and the rest of his people to live!”

“Why do you trust him, Tony? He tried to kill you!” Rogers demanded.

“Yeah, so did you!”

A very tense silence filled the air. Nobody spoke for a good long while before Stark continued.

“He could’ve left me for dead multiple times to save himself, but he instead chose to risk his life to save mine. He has earned my trust.”

Loki stepped away from the door, a warm feeling spreading in his gut. He moved back to sit in his previous position on the couch, just in time for the door to open.

Exhausted blue eyes met his as Captain Rogers exited first. The man nodded at him before disappearing into the kitchen. The rest of the Avengers followed behind him, all except for Romanov and Stark.

“Hey, Prancer,” Stark greeted tiredly. “I’m thinking we should probably call Strange and let him know what happened.”

Stark moved cautiously past Loki, taking the seat beside him but leaving a good amount of space between them. Romanov sat opposite them in an armchair, busying herself with cleaning one of her guns.

Loki nodded wordlessly, Stark’s previous words running on repeat in his mind.

_“He has earned my trust.”_

He thought back to his dream that morning, to Jörmungandr who he knew had been the Sorcerer that attacked them alongside Skurge. His heart filled with ice. He hadn’t told Stark of the dream at the time because he was afraid it would come true, but perhaps if he had told him, they could’ve been more prepared for the attack. Hœnir might not have died.

Loki glanced up at the feeling that he was being watched, his eyes meeting the inquisitive, sharp gaze of Romanov. She raised a single immaculate eyebrow before continuing to polish her gun.

With a sigh he stood up, silently heading for the staircase. He could feel Stark watching him go, but he was glad the man asked no questions.

He walked into his borrowed bedroom, wishing he could just will his armor away. Slumping onto the bed, he set about removing the tight leather pieces. His mind raced, his thoughts becoming jumbled with panic.

He hadn’t intended to get so close to Anthony. He hadn’t intended to feel guilty about withholding information, he hadn’t intended to feel warm and safe when Anthony declared that he trusted him.

 _‘Stark,’_ he reminded himself firmly, shucking off his doublet and leaving it on the bedside cabinet. He considered for a moment removing the rest and changing into the T-shirt and sweatpants he’d borrowed from Barton, but he couldn’t be bothered, falling into bed still wearing his silken green shirt, leather pants, and boots. The second his head hit the pillow he was asleep.

………

_The familiar figure of Amora, silhouetted in sickly green light, stood before a kneeling Skurge. She reached out a long fingered hand, placing it on Skurge’s bald head as the large man shivered._

_“You have failed me, Skurge.”_

_“Yes, my Lady,” Skurge answered, clenching his jaw in fear. He didn’t beg for forgiveness, he didn’t try to escape, he simply knelt and awaited his punishment._

_“It was that mortal with the Prince,” came another voice as a hooded figure, Jörmungandr, slinked forward. “He seems to possess some sort of grasp on sorcery himself. He teleported them away before we could stop him.”_

_Amora laughed dangerously, turning to face Jörmungandr._

_“Another mortal Sorcerer. Midgardians are so much more bothersome then I seem to remember,” she spat._

_“Regardless, we have your prize” Jörmungandr said as they approached further, pulling something out from their cloak and offering it to Amora. The Book of Seithr looked almost dimmer in their hand, as if it rejected its present company._

_Amora dragged her fingertips over the book’s face with her free hand, looking to almost relax._

_“Keep it on hand. You never know when you may have need of it, what with mortals playing at learning the ancient craft.”_

_Jörmungandr’s lips curled into a twisted smirk as Amora allowed Skurge to stand._

_“You have one more chance, my darling. If you fail, you die.”_

………

Loki groaned as he slowly came out of sleep, remnants of his dream flashing across his mind’s eye. He foolishly hoped that if he just laid still he might fall back into unconsciousness, but those odds were never in his favour.   
  
With a sigh, he rolled onto his back, arching in a stretch and slowly opening his eyes.   
  
Unearthly fiery blue eyes stared back at him.   
  
Before Loki could call out, strong bony fingers encircled his throat, closing down on his windpipe.   
  
“Hello your Royal Highness,” Jörmungandr hissed, hooded face far too close; close enough that Loki could smell their breath.   
  
Loki tried to speak, but those fingers simply squeezed harder.   
  
“No no no. Don’t speak. We wouldn’t want your pet mortal bursting in on us, now would we?”   
  
The bruising grip loosened and Loki sucked in a wheezing breath. Jörmungandr glanced to the up and down movements of his chest as he gasped for air, a sickly smile stretching across thin lips.   
  
“My how you’ve weakened without your magic, Odinson. What a loss. I remember how powerful you were in the craft as a young boy, a trait you seemed to have taken from your dear mother.”   
  
“Who are you,” Loki managed to rasp, gritting his teeth.   
  
Jörmungandr chuckled, the sound sending a chill down Loki’s spine.   
  
“I was the last of the ones Odin imprisoned. He banished me to a pitch dark jail where I spent millennia dreaming of the day the bastard would die so that I may once again walk the earth, so to speak. My last words to the court of Asgard were a promise to take from Odin everything he loved. I suppose I could start with you.”   
  
Loki watched in horror as Jörmungandr reached out with their free hand, caressing the side of Loki’s face. They leaned ever closer until their breath brushed past Loki’s ear.   
  
“But not before I’ve had my fun.”   
  
Loki went rigid as the hand on his cheek began to glow blue. He flinched as a tongue darted out, licking along the shell of his ear as the glowing hand covered his mouth.   
  
All at once, Loki felt like he was drowning. Water filled his lungs and he began to writhe and kick at his assailant. His vision darkened around the edges as he clawed at the hand holding his throat.   
  
The blue light dimmed and Loki coughed desperately, his entire body shaking.   
  
He felt sharp nails tear at his shirt, wincing as they dug into his shoulder. The still glowing hand moved to cover his newly bared chest, just over his heart.   
  
“I can taste the fear in the air. It seeps out of you in waves,” Jörmungandr whispered, dragging his nose along Loki’s neck and inhaling. “I find myself wanting to taste more.”   
  
Loki barely had time to yell when that hand covered his mouth once again, the blue light blinding.   
  
He fought against the feeling, tears streaming from his eyes. He felt the hand previously gripping his throat trail down his heaving chest, nails dragging along the revealed skin until it reached his hip.   
  
With a burst of energy, Loki hooked his leg around Jörmungandr’s hip, throwing them off of the bed. The second the glowing hand uncovered his mouth he coughed up the water, gasping for air.   
  
Jörmungandr was on their feet immediately, blue light twisting around their arms menacingly. They bared their fanged teeth and Loki closed his eyes.   
  
When he opened them, he was on his back in the field beside Barton’s barnhouse. His body burned, the pain excruciating. It took him a moment to realise that the agonized scream he was hearing was his own.   
  
He heard the telltale sounds of Jörmungandr appearing not far away from where he lay.   
  
Through his tear blurred vision, he could see that their hands were fully engulfed in that brilliant blue light, their hood having fallen back to reveal a pale angular face framed with turquoise scales, long greasy black hair that reached their middle back, those icy blue eyes that radiated power, and a set of lethal fangs that almost dripped venom.   
  
Loki forced himself to his feet, stumbling as he assumed a defensive position.   
  
“You can still access your magic,” Jörmungandr hissed menacingly, stopping a mere seven feet away.   
  
Jörmungandr fixed him with a nasty grin, their back straightening with several pops until they were nearly half a foot taller.   
  
“You’re stronger than Amora thought. We’ll just have to fix that.”   
  
Before Loki could answer, Jörmungandr rushed forward, striking out with a glowing hand. Loki rolled to the side, stumbling to his feet but gasping as a burning hand once again gripped his bruised throat, lifting him and slamming him into the ground.   
  
Loki glanced up with wide horrified eyes as Jörmungandr fixed him with a poisonous smile.   
  
Suddenly Jörmungandr was blasted backwards off of Loki, landing a good distance away.   
  
Loki glanced over to see Stark standing by the front door of the house, in full armor aside from his helmet.   
  
He raced to Loki, standing in front of him protectively as the remainder of the Avengers emerged, all suited up and armed.   
  
“You ok, Reindeer Games?” Stark inquired, his jaw tight as he raised his charged repulsors.   
  
Loki nodded, reluctantly allowing Barnes to help him to his feet, the metal armed man moving to stand behind him as Romanov and Barton flanked him on either side, Wilson in front of him.   
  
Jörmungandr rolled to their feet, looking upon the Avengers as they surrounded Loki.   
  
“You have reinforcements. Luckily, I have one of my own,” they said as a blue portal opened and Skurge stepped through, wielding his ax with a glare.

Loki watched as Captain Rogers stepped forward, a dark metal shield expanding on his forearm. Stark followed in kind, a shield of his own forming on his opposite arm.

“Ok. I know who Gothmog here is,” Stark said, motioning to Skurge. ”But who the shit are you?”

“I am Jörmungandr the World Serpent, banished from Asgard to rot in-“

“Ok hold up Jörmun-mun-mun, I think you’ve got the wrong place. This isn’t the Scaly convention.”

Jörmungandr’s humanized serpent-like features twisted into annoyance as Barton snorted from beside Loki.

“Now, I’m gonna give you one chance to retreat, Voldemort,” Stark stated, his helmet emerging from the collar of his suit.

Jörmungandr bared their fangs challengingly, blue light snaking up their arms.

“Ok. Your call,” Stark said easily before charging a repulsor and shooting a beam towards Skurge.

Jörmungandr jumped in front of him, bringing their hands together and splitting the beam in half. Skurge charged out from behind the serpentine Sorcerer, raising his ax with a war cry.

Rogers and Stark brought their shields together with a clang, grunting in unison as they caught the blow from Skurge’s ax, holding him back.

Jörmungandr locked eyes with Loki through the barrier of people, suddenly vanishing as Rogers and Stark advanced on Skurge.

Loki brought his hand up just as Jörmungandr reappeared in front of him, managing to block a strike. Barnes looped his arms through Loki’s, spinning them around and kicking Jörmungandr in the chest.

Romanov slid on her hip, whipping around and swiping Jörmungandr’s feet out from under them.

Just as they hit the ground, a blue portal opened and they disappeared through it.

Barnes cursed under his breath as he stood with his back to Loki, arms spread protectively.

Movement caught Loki’s eye when Stark was sent rolling backward after a particularly hard strike from Skurge. Captain Rogers advanced, bashing the sharp end of his shield into Skurge’s gut.

The Executioner roared in pain, swinging his ax at a downward angle, just missing Rogers who rolled dexterously out of the way. Stark fired up his rockets, flying forward and slamming into Skurge’s injured stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Loki’s focus was taken off of that battle when he felt a portal open beneath him. He only made it halfway through when Romanov and Barnes grabbed hold of him, managing to hoist him out before it could close.

Jörmungandr appeared a few feet away beside the barn, raising a hand and shooting a blast of magic at Barton.

Loki reached out and grabbed the archer by the back of his collar, pulling him out of the way. The magic sailed past him, hitting a nearby tree and immediately decaying the bark.

“Oh shit,” Barton whispered, righting himself and nocking an arrow.

He began to fire arrow after arrow, Jörmungandr deflecting them with blasts of magic. Romanov rushing forward, managing to bob and weave in between Barton’s shots expertly. She reached Jörmungandr, ducking a stike from their glowing fist and dealing three well aimed blows.

She arched backwards as the enraged Sorcerer made to grab her before an arrow made its mark, embedding into the right side of their chest.

Jörmungandr screamed in rage and pain, gripping the arrow and yanking it out. The sound drew Skurge’s attention mid swing. Captain Rogers took the opportunity to grip the handle of his ax. Stark fired a repulsor blast and Skurge howled in pain as his hand gripping the handle was severed from his wrist. He fell to his knees, cradling his bleeding arm in agony. The ax fell to the ground, the hand still gripping it tightly.

Jörmungandr raised their blood covered hands with a poisonous glare, summoning a wave of blue magic. With a shriek, they sent in out. Loki watched in open mouthed shock as it built, coming down to hit them like a tidal wave.

In a blur of red, Stark was in front of Jörmungandr, bringing his shield down. The force of the blast pushed him back, but he held fast. The blue light split as it hit the shield, the separated streams flanking the huddled group on either side before fizzling out.

Stark retracted his shield when the blue light died down completely. Jörmungandr locked eyes with him, their gaze burning with pure fury.

“The mortal inventor that fancies himself a god,” Jörmungandr hissed darkly, raising a hand palm up. The Book of Seithr appeared in their hand.

“Put the book down, Nagini. I don’t want to have to kill you, but I will,” Stark ordered.

Loki’s stomach was leaden as Jörmungandr turned their unhinged gaze to him, that vicious smile curling their thin lips.

“Your mortal should never have meddled with magic. But I’ll make him pay,” they snarled, utterly lost in their passionate anger.

The blue glow emanating from their hands bled into dark gold as Jörmungandr began to chant:

“ᛁ ᛏᚨᚴᛖ ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚤᛟᚢ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᚷᛁᚠᛏ ᛟᚠ ᛋᛖᛁᛏᚺᚱ ᛟᚾᛚᚤ ᛒᚤ ᚨᛖᛋᛁᚱ ᚺᚨᚾᛞ ᛋᚺᚨᛚᛚ ᛁᛏ ᛒᛖ ᚱᛖᛏᚢᚱᚾᛖᛞ.”

In a flash, they vanished from their place. Loki could feel his heartbeat in his ears as he waited.

Suddenly, Jörmungandr reappeared before Stark, long fingered hand reaching toward his arc reactor. Without a second thought, Loki raced forward out of Barnes’ grasp, jumping in front of Stark. Jörmungandr’s eyes widened as their golden glowing hand connected with Loki’s chest.

Loki’s vision whited out completely, fire burning in his veins. He wasn’t breathing; he didn’t need to breath. The air was metallic on his tongue as his body burned with life.

 _“By Aesir hand, your gift of Seithr is return’d. May you bear it well,”_ spoke a familiar voice.

The last thing Loki could see was the face of his mother, her smile gentle and kind as ever.

Loki’s eyes snapped open. His entire body radiated pure golden Seithr, his hair flowing though there was no wind. He took in a deep breath, looking to his hands as the gold slowly faded into emerald green.

His gaze flickered up to meet Jörmungandr’s shocked expression and he smirked.

“Thank you,” he said breathily, raising his hands and blasting green fire. Jörmungandr flew backwards, their back hitting the front of the barn hard enough to make the entire structure rattle.

Jörmungandr pressed their hand to their injury, looking like a cornered rat. In a flash, they appeared next to the still wailing Skurge, shooting one final wide eyed glare toward Loki before disappearing with Skurge.

Loki dropped to his knees, his entire body aching down to the bone. He simultaneously felt better and worse then he’d ever felt. A hand hesitantly reached out to him. He didn’t even bother to glance up to see who it belonged to, taking it and allowing the owner to pull him to his feet.

Captain Rogers wrapped an arm around his upper back, allowing Loki to lean heavily on him.

“Loki. Do you… Did you just get your magic back?” Stark questioned, retracting his helmet to look at him with such concern and… something else; hope, perhaps.

Loki met his eyes, panting from the effort of standing.

“Thanks partially to you, I believe,” Loki replied, his eyelids drooping with fatigue.

“I must rest. My body needs to recover.”

Stark stepped forward at that, his questions stopping on his tongue as he gently wrapped his own arm around Loki’s back. Rogers pulled away once Loki’s weight was properly distributed, nodding silently to Stark. Stark returned the gesture and began to lead Loki back into the house.

“You alright, Sparkles?” Stark inquired softly when Loki gripped the bannister as they ascended the stairs.

“Yes. Just tired,” Loki answered, just barely making it up the staircase before his legs gave out. Stark wasted no time sweeping him up into his arms, carrying him the rest of the way to his room and gently setting him in bed. He retracted his armor into the arc reactor, pulling a chair to the bedside and sitting.

“So, what exactly happened back there,” he inquired.

“Well to recap, I was awoken from my sleep by an ancient being attempting to torture me to death. I used my last reserve of strength to escape to outside of the house where you and your Avengers joined the battle. We had Jörmungandr cornered so they panicked and attempted to revoke _your_ magic which had rather the opposite effect as I jumped between you and the spell. In their hubris, they have made a grave mistake. I don’t believe Amora will be terribly forgiving.”

“So your magic is totally back?”

Loki huffed a laugh, even something as small as that taking far too much effort.

“I need to rekindle my connection to it. I’ve been without it for longer than ever before. It’s going to take a lot of focus and energy.”

Stark nodded in understanding, his expression shifting to one of slight concern.

“So that… _thing_ tried to hit me with the curse because they thought I had magic?”

Loki nodded shortly, placing his hand over the cut on his shoulder. He didn’t have the energy to heal it just yet, but he allowed his hands to cool the burn.

“Seriously?” Stark scoffed.

“Stark, your little lightspeed device is not what you seem to think it is. You’ve managed to harness a power that almost perfectly mirrors my own ability to teleport.”

Loki turned his head to glance at Stark, taking in his confused expression.

“I… what? Prancer, I’ve told you before I can’t do magic. With the exception of Strange, who I doubt is even human, I don’t know anyone from Earth that can do magic.”

“Stark,” Loki sighed, struggling to sit up to better look at the other man. “I don’t have the energy to talk about this.”

Stark nodded, his expression not changing as he stared into the space past Loki’s head. Loki sighed, wincing as he settled into the mattress and closed his eyes. He allowed his exhaustion to overtake him, vaguely registering a blanket being pulled over him before he was unconscious.

………


	10. Chapter 10

Tony groaned tiredly as he slowly drifted to wakefulness. His neck was unbelievably stiff and he felt the beginnings of a no-coffee headache coming on, but he couldn’t yet be bothered to get up. 

At some point during the night he had shifted from asleep sitting up in the chair to laying with his upper body on the bed and the rest of him in the chair. 

His eyes cracked open at a sound beside him. He was met with the sight of Loki, sleeping peacefully. The bags that had been permanent fixtures under his eyes had disappeared overnight, his skin losing its grey hue. He looked healthier than Tony had ever seen him look. 

His fingers itched to touch the soft black curls fanned out across the pillow, but Tony shook the thought from his head. His gaze stopped on Loki’s neck where dark bruises in the clear shape of a hand had formed. Further down, his shirt was torn at the collar to reveal numerous cuts and bruises littered across his chest and shoulders. Tony felt his stomach twist into knots at the sight. 

Green eyes slowly opened to meet Tony’s gaze. He could swear he saw a small smile curl Loki’s lips before the god was sitting up, pushing his messy curls out of his face.

“Morning, Snow White. How do you feel?” Tony questioned as he pushed himself up, sitting back in the chair and popping his neck with a groan. 

Loki stretched languidly, his back arching gracefully. The leather of his pants creaked as he moved to sit facing Tony. 

“Horrible, but alive,” Loki replied, yawning as his hand lit up green. He waved his hand across his body, his cuts and bruises glowing briefly before  completely vanishing.

“That’s a pretty handy trick,” Tony laughed, rubbing his shoulder absently. Loki watched him for a moment, pushing a wayward strand of hair out of his face. 

“What ails you, Stark? Perhaps I can be of help?” Loki offered.

“Oh. It’s just the usual post battle body aches. I think I also may have slept wrong, so my neck-“

Tony’s words faded out as Loki scooted closer to him, reaching out a glowing hand.

“Hold still,” he said softly, his fingertips ghosting across Tony’s forehead, moving down his neck to his chest, directly over the Black Sabbath emblem on his t-shirt. As he went, any pain Tony had been feeling disappeared. He stared in wonder as the green glow faded, suddenly feeling younger than he had in years. 

Loki’s hand lingered on his chest, just left of his arc reactor. He looked up to meet Tony’s eyes, his lips parted as if he had something to say but couldn’t quite get it out. 

“Better?” he finally asked. 

Tony nodded, unable to think of a thing to say as he stared into that emerald gaze.

They jumped apart at a knock on the door, Tony nearly knocking over the chair in his haste to sit back in it as the door opened. 

“Uh… Guys, Strange is here,” Clint announced, looking between them far too knowingly for Tony’s comfort. 

“Great. Let’s head on down and talk to the Doc,” Tony said hastily, rising from the chair. 

Loki huffed a sigh, standing as well. His entire form glowed green for a moment before dimming. His hair was suddenly brushed back into its typical sleek style, the unruly curls tamed into gentle waves, and his ripped shirt was replaced by a clean black silken shirt that laced up at the collar. 

Tony watched distractedly as Loki walked out of the room past Clint, disappearing down the hall. 

He ignored the waggling eyebrow Clint was giving him, following Loki to the living room where Strange stood with the rest of the team. 

“Hey, Doc,” Tony greeted, slumping into the armchair tiredly. Loki sat in the seat beside him and Tony had to try his best not to overthink the simple gesture. 

“Explain to me what happened with Hœnir. Spare no detail,” Strange demanded immediately. 

“Ah. To the point as usual, Doctor,” Tony joked, steeling himself for the lecture he knew would be coming the moment he finished his story. 

His fingers itched for a tumbler of scotch. 

………

Tony had never seen Strange look so annoyed. As he retold the story of their meeting with Hœnir, the other man slumped further and further back on the sofa, his fingers steepled in front of his lips as he considered Tony’s words. 

“So we managed to escape, but Hœnir was killed and the book was taken by Jörmungandr. And then last night Loki was attacked in his sleep. Natasha and Clint heard the intruder and woke us all. Loki managed to take the fight outside where we all joined in. Cap and I took down Skurge and Jörmungandr fled with him.”

There was a long moment of silence as Strange absorbed the information, the vein in his forehead growing more and more visible.

“So you’ve lost the book,” he finally stated. 

“Jörmungandr has it, but I-“

“But nothing. You. Lost. It,” Strange said, speaking slowly and evenly as if to a child. “I should’ve never trusted you with it. It was apparently way too much responsibility for you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Loki tense up. 

“That book was property of Asgard. It’s whereabouts don’t concern you,” Loki said with a frown, crossing his arms and leaning back just slightly in his seat. 

“I don’t care where it came from. That book was part of my private collection. I kept it under careful lock and key.”   
  
“Wait. You said Amora took the book from Kamar-Taj,” Natasha cut in.    
  
Strange stuttered to a halt, blinking as he seemed to grasp for words to say. Tony’s blood ran cold at the second too long silence, realisation washing over him like an icy wave. 

A humourless laugh broke the spell of silence and all eyes turned to Loki.    
  
“It’s a sad thing when a liar can’t keep up with their lies,” Loki stated, his eyes laser focused on Strange as he stood, approaching the Sorcerer.    
  
“Stark, do you remember the last thing Ms. Hammer told us with her own voice?” Loki questioned as he stopped to stand before Strange, looking down on the other man with a glare as cold as the arctic winds.   
  
“You’ve chosen your friends poorly,” Tony recited, dread replaced by budding anger. 

“Now, how precisely did Amora get her slimy little hands on that book?” Loki almost growled, green sparks flickering between his fingers.    
  
Strange seemed to deflate a bit, looking down and pressing his lips together in thought.    
  
“She came to me offering a solution to one of my problems. At first I turned her away since I knew she had participated in the destruction of New York, but…”   
  
“You gave her the book,” Loki said, back as taut as a bowstring.    
  
“I gave her the book because she said she wanted you out of the way. I didn’t care if she failed or succeeded; I figured the two of you would just take each other out and I would have one less magical megalomaniac to deal with.”   
  
Loki leaned down into Strange’s space, his voice deathly low.    
  
“You’ve failed in accounting for collateral damage. Because of your actions, not only have countless civilians been enchanted, taken from their families to serve as an untouchable army, but you have directly endangered the entirety of what remains of my people.”

Strange raised his brow at Loki’s threatening posture, looking unimpressed. 

  
“I know this might be hard to hear, but your people are nowhere on my list of priorities. I deal in protecting this realm and, reformed or not, you are a threat. So yes, I gave Amora the book. You can be as upset as you want, but I made the right decision for Earth.”

Loki seemed to take that in for a moment, his expression going carefully blank.

“You’re still a terrible liar, I’m afraid,” he said with a dark smirk. Strange frowned at that, raising his chin defiantly. 

“I was a good enough liar to trick you into placing yourself under house arrest. If I had just chosen someone more mentally stable and morally sound then Stark to watch you, then you would have been out of the way by now and I could move on to dealing with Amora myself.”

  
There was a long pause as everyone held their collective breath, watching as Loki’s shoulders relaxed and his posture straightened. He looked almost peaceful for a moment as he stood above the Doctor.    
  
Suddenly Loki’s hand shot out, gripping Strange by the throat. He lifted the started man off the couch, throwing him bodily through the hard wood of the front door. Strange landed with a strangled shout on the patio, just barely stopping himself from rolling off the edge as the two halves of the door landed beside his head.    
  
Loki shimmered green momentarily before disappearing. He reappeared standing over Strange, kicking the man in the side hard enough to send him off of the raised patio.    
  
Tony hurried outside, followed by the rest of the group as Loki approached Strange with a few long strides.    
  
Strange pulled himself up with a wheezing grunt, summoning a portal right under Loki which the enraged Sorcerer fell through. The self satisfied look on Strange’s face was short lived as Loki appeared beside him, slamming his fist into the side of his face, sending him sprawling back onto the ground.    
  
Blood poured from his nose as he pushed himself up, managing to dodge another kick from Loki. He raised his hands, those intricate strands of golden magic forming with precise movements. 

Loki growled, his hands shooting out to grip Strange’s wrists. Strange shouted in pain as Loki’s hands glowed with green fire, the golden lines of Strange’s magic in turn fizzling out. 

Releasing Strange’s wrists, Loki reached out and grabbed him by the throat instead, his grip ironclad.

“You knowingly endangered my people, my family, and you have the audacity to state that it was for the greater good of your realm.”   
  
Strange made a choking sound as if trying to speak. Loki gritted his teeth, lifting the other man completely and slamming him into the ground.    
  
_ ‘A favourite move in Asgard, apparently,’ _ Tony thought as he watched chunks of dirt fly from the collision. 

  
Before Strange could stand, Loki pinned him with a knee to his chest, slamming his fists into his face over and over and over. The sounds were nauseating, but Tony couldn’t turn away.    
  
Loki stopped abruptly, his hands engulfing themselves in green fire as he raised them high above his head. Tony was immediately reminded of a guillotine.    
  
Steve rushed forward without hesitation, grabbing Loki around the waist before he could bring his hands down and pulling him bodily off of Strange. Loki struggled in his grip, the fire extinguishing from his hands in his surprise.    
  
“Loki, don’t. We need him alive,” Steve said carefully, dragging him away from the nearly unconscious Sorcerer Supreme. Loki struggled against his hold, his teeth bared like a jaguar. Tony rushed forward, helping Cap to hold him back as Clint and Sam hurried toward Strange. 

“Loki, hey. Look at me. C’mon,” Tony said as soothingly as possible, placing his hand on the struggling sorcerers back. 

Loki seemed to sag a bit in Steve’s hold, unclenching his jaw and exhaling sharply through his nose. 

“You ok, Sparkles?” Tony asked, glancing to meet Steve’s concerned expression. 

“Get me away from him,” Loki mumbled, just barely loud enough for them to hear. Steve nodded in understanding, carefully passing Loki completely to Tony. 

“We’ll make sure Strange is dealt with. You take him inside and watch him. He looks like he’s about to keel over.”

Tony nodded, wrapping his arm around Loki’s waist and leading the nearly unconscious man inside. 

“C’mon, Loki,” Tony breathed, half dragging him towards the stairs as he went fully limp. Carefully, he wrapped Loki’s arm around his shoulders before adjusting his own grip and lifting him as if he were a bride being carried across a threshold. 

“I can actually lift you. Did you get lighter, Bambi?” Tony questioned as he carried Loki up the stairs and into his own room, setting him on the bed. 

“Magic. Adapted to my location,” Loki mumbled, his breath coming out in pants as sweat dotted his forehead. 

“Man. You really overdid it, huh?” Tony said more to himself then to Loki. 

The other man laughed bitterly, turning his head to meet Stark’s gaze. 

“I will recover after some rest.”

“Strange won’t. You really laid the smack down on him,” Tony added, his heart warming as a small smile curled Loki’s lips upward before the other man seemed to fall asleep. 

Tony glanced over to the chair he had occupied the previous night. With a sigh, he moved to sit down when a hand grabbed the hem of his shirt. 

Tony glanced down in surprise to see Loki looking up at him, eyes half-lidded and exhausted. 

He didn’t speak, but his message was clear to Tony. 

_ ‘Stay close.’ _

Tony kicked off his shoes as Loki sluggishly moved to the other side of the bed. Careful not to jostle the half asleep god, Tony climbed onto the bed, lying stiffly on his back. He briefly considered getting under the sheets but thought better of it. 

Loki had invited him into his personal space while he was vulnerable. Tony couldn’t quite wrap his head around why. Perhaps he was afraid to sleep alone after the incident with Jörmungandr. 

Resolving to think about it in the morning, Tony rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. 

“Goodnight, Sparkles,” he said softly. 

Tony yawned as he drifted off, sleep coming shockingly quickly. The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a whisper so soft he almost missed it. 

“Goodnight, Anthony.”

………

Loki awoke, feeling better rested then he’d ever felt. There was no foreboding nightmare, no waking up every hour in a panic, no residual exhaustion. He felt safe for the first time in centuries.

He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of the bed as he was met with the sight of a sleeping Anthony Stark not five inches away from him. 

After his pulse had calmed and his fight or flight instinct no longer perceived the sleeping mortal to be a threat, Loki allowed himself to relax back into his previous position, his head resting on the pillow once again. 

He regarded Stark silently. The man looked surprisingly peaceful and somehow several years younger with his handsome features slack with sleep. For a moment Loki almost wanted to reach out and touch him.

That thought was quickly extinguished as tired brown eyes cracked open. 

“What time is it?” Stark asked groggily into his watch, stifling a yawn. 

_“The time is 04:00, February 18th. The temperature outside is 32° Fahrenheit with wind going northward,”_ Friday responded. 

Loki watched as Stark sat up, stretching out his back with a series of pops. 

“I’d kill for some coffee about now,” he mumbled. 

Loki smiled at that, pushing himself up slightly to sit against the headboard. Without a second thought, Loki summoned a nice hot mug in a flash of green, offering it to Stark who stared at it in wonder. 

“Did you just… magic me a cup of coffee?” he questioned slowly, taking the steaming mug with two hands. 

Loki sat up completely, holding back a smirk as the inventor stared into the mug as if the contents held the secrets to the universe. 

“I suppose you could say that,” he answered as Stark inhaled deeply before taking a long sip. 

“If I had known you could create coffee like that…” Stark said, trailing off as he took another sip. He closed his eyes and moaned in delight. 

“I didn’t create it, persay. I just summoned it,” Loki explained, willing the blush that he knew now coloured his cheeks to fade. 

“What do you mean?” Stark asked, his interest clearly piqued. 

“While I do possess the ability to create something from only magic, it takes a lot of concentration and energy to execute. Summoning an already existing object takes far less.”

“Wait so this coffee belonged to someone else and you just brought it here?” Stark questioned, seemingly unable to hide his amusement at the thought. 

“More or less,” Loki answered with a shrug, interlocking his fingers and stretching his arms out over his head.

“How it that even possible,” Stark said as his cheeks reddened slightly, setting the nearly empty mug on the side table. “I mean, I know you’re a God and everything, but… how?”

“Magic is just another branch of physics,” Loki said, pushing a curly lock out of his face. “Any being has the potential to grasp it so long as they’re clever enough. You are more than clever, therefore it-“

Loki gasped as lips collided with his, his entire body tensing on instinct. Hands cradled the sides of his face, holding him closely but with more care then he could ever remember being shown. The taste and smell of black coffee filled his senses, almost overwhelming but somehow pleasant. 

All at once, the sensation ended, Stark panting softly as he pulled back to look at Loki with a wide eyed expression. 

“Loki, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was think-“

“I didn’t tell you to stop, Stark,” Loki breathed, grabbing hold of the inventors shoulders and pulling him back in. Stark made a surprised noise as their lips met once again, quickly getting over the initial shock and kissing back passionately. 

Stark brought one hand to the back of Loki’s head, the other to his waist, pulling him closer. Loki wrapped his arms around Stark’s neck, drinking in the heady feeling of having the Avenger pressed against him. He groaned softly before he could stop himself as the hand in his hair tugged gently.

Stark smirked against his lips, deepening the kiss. He returned the groan as Loki bit his lip, rolling it between his teeth teasingly. 

They pulled back reluctantly to catch their breath, staring into each other’s eyes. Stark held either side of Loki’s face, his thumbs stroking over his cheekbones. 

“That was… What was that?” he asked softly. 

“You tell me. You’re the one that started it,” Loki replied with a smirk. 

Stark grinned at that, leaning in to kiss the corner of his lips. 

“You were talking about physics and then you were complimenting me and I just…” he trailed off, peppering kisses along Loki’s jaw. 

“I should’ve known scientific jargon and praise would be your turn ons,” Loki chuckled as Stark nipped at his throat. 

“So what are your turn ons?” Stark asked teasingly, sucking hard on a spot just above Loki’s collarbone. 

“You, evidently,” Loki answered, grabbing his face and attacking his lips once again. Stark returned the kiss with fervor, climbing on top of Loki and dragging his hands from his hips to his thighs. 

Stark loosened the laces at the collar of Loki’s shirt, running his hands over the newly exposed skin. Loki in return ran his hands down Stark’s chest, grabbing fistfuls of his t-shirt. 

“Oh Anthony,” he hissed as Stark managed to get his hands completely under Loki’s shirt, running his fingers up the smooth skin of his torso. 

A knock sounded on the door, followed by the doorknob twisting slowly. Loki gasped, hooking his leg around Stark’s waist and throwing him off the bed. He landed haphazardly in the chair, managing to pull himself upright as the door opened fully to reveal Barton. 

The archer fixed them with a look, a single eyebrow raising. Loki stared back challengingly, knowing for absolutely certain that not only was the mark Stark had sucked into his collarbone blatantly obvious, but that his and Starks lips were both visibly kiss-swollen and red. 

Seeming to have made a measured decision to completely ignore what he had definitely realised he’d walked in on, Barton spoke. 

“I was sent up to get you.”

“What’s going on, Clint?” Stark questioned, his tone suddenly grave.

“It’s Amora. We know where she is.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while to write. I kept going back to re-read a section and not liking what I wrote. I really hope you guys like this chapter!
> 
> ~Cynical


	11. Chapter 11

Tony stared at the television screen with a sense of utter numbness as he and the other Avengers watched the live news feed of San Francisco. 

A very uncharacteristically disheveled Amora stood before the Transamerica Pyramid, a large crowd of terrified civilians herded to stand in front of her by a barrier of acid green fire. 

There was no audio; there didn’t need to be. Tony could feel the fear emanating from the crowd, the effect heightened by the shaking of the camera.

Amora’s eyes met the camera directly and she smiled unnervingly. Tony could swear he could read the words,  _ “Come and face me, Loki”  _ on her red smudged lips. 

“So, what’s the game plan, here?” Clint said, leaning against the couch. Tony managed to tear his gaze away from the TV to look at Steve, breathing in deeply to try and calm his racing heartbeat. 

Steve considered for a moment before turning to Loki. 

“What do you think?” he asked. 

Loki’s brow furrowed in thought.

“She’s unhinged. She’s trying to draw me out, and she will do anything she must in order to get results. We need to stop her before it’s too late.”

“Lokes, your grip on your magic is still weakened,” Tony stated as he approached the god. “You can’t just charge into battle.”

“I don’t have a choice, Stark,” Loki shot back. “I’m the one she wants. I will not allow her any more casualties. This ends now.”

“How do we get there,” Natasha questioned, twirling a knife absently though the clench of her jaw told Tony just how angry and ready for action she was. 

“How many people can you teleport at once?” Clint asked, looking to Loki. 

“At my full power I could bring everyone, but at the moment if I tried we could all end up in different places; or, well, pieces of us could.”

Clint looked ill at that, leaning heavily on the back of the couch.

“So  _ that’s _ out.”

“I believe I can be of service,” Strange said, standing unsurly in the entrance of the hallway. 

Tony watched with bated breath as Loki’s gaze snapped toward the Sorcerer. He regarded him for a moment, moving to stand in front of him and crossing his arms as if to say  _ “go on” _ . 

Strange took in a deep breath, meeting Loki’s eyes and raising his hands in a sign of peace. 

“I was foolish to think I could take on Amora by myself. And while I still don’t entirely trust you, and I know you don’t trust me, I can admit that you are this realms only hope and I want to do everything in my power to help you.”

Tony watched as Loki’s face shifted from one unreadable expression to another before he nodded and held out his hand. Strange tentatively took it, his expression one of determination. 

“I'm going to choose to trust you. If you break that trust, you will not live long enough to regret it,” Loki promised, his tone low and dangerous. Strange nodded solemnly, shaking Loki’s hand. 

“Alright,” Steve said, all eyes turning to him as he stepped forward. “Time is of the essence. Everybody suit up and meet me outside. We’re going to take down Amora once and for all.”

………

Tony’s mind was shockingly peaceful as he pulled on his under armour, fastening everything in place. His arc reactor shone brightly in the low light of the bedroom, reflecting off of the glass in the picture frames on the wall.

His heart ached as he glanced over the smiling faces of Clint and his family. This battle would determine the lives of those smiling children; of every child. He felt the pressure of their futures on his shoulders. He took in a shaky breath, his fingers brushing over the arc reactor. 

He was broken from his reverie at a knock on the door. Before he could speak it opened, Loki walking in and closing it behind him. 

“Stark,” he greeted, pausing as he took in Tony’s appearance. “You look awful.”

“You really know how to make a guy blush, Buttercup,” Tony deadpanned, sitting in the chair beside the bed and searching for his boots. 

Loki stared at him pensively for a moment, Tony feeling the gaze though he refused to return it.

“You’re anxious,” he said, not as a question but a statement. 

Tony snorted, his search for his boots becoming slowly more frantic. 

“Weirdly enough, yeah. I am anxious to go up against that batshit crazy bitch and her army of pissed off God Monsters. In fact, I’m fucking terrified. So much is riding on our success and there’s just eight of us. The fate of the world rests on the shoulders of  _ eight people _ .”

Tony paused in his tirade, cursing under his breath. “Where the fuck  _ are _ they!”

He tensed as he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. Taking a deep fortifying breath, he allowed himself to be pushed back in the chair into a more relaxed position, his eyes finally meeting Loki’s. 

“Anthony, be still,” he said soothingly, his voice low. Tony could just barely feel his cool breath ghosting over his face.

With a twirl of a green glowing finger, Tony’s boots were suddenly on his feet and zipped up. 

“You once saved the world and defeated both Amora and myself with no more then six people. I have no doubt in my mind that you can do it again.”

Tony’s hands found Loki’s still resting on his shoulders. His fingers traced over the smooth skin of the gods wrists. 

“Why aren’t you suited up?” he inquired distractedly, eyes flickering down to Loki’s lips. 

“Don’t change the subject, Stark,” Loki said sternly, one hand moving from his shoulder to cup his jaw, bringing his gaze back up to his eyes. 

Tony felt a warmth blossoming in his stomach, chasing away the nausea of fear and replacing it with anticipation. 

“You are going to be perfectly alright. Your teammates and I have your back.”

“My teammates and you?” Tony repeated, trailing his hands up Loki’s arms, over the silky black material of his shirt, and down his sides until he reached his waist. “That’s a bit redundant seeing as you’re part of the team.”

Loki’s expression shifted and he looked as if he were about to pull away. Tony frowned and pulled him closer by the waist, sending him off balance. He braced himself with both hands against Tony’s chest, placing a knee on the seat beside Tony’s hip to keep from toppling onto him. 

“Now who’s anxious?” he teased. Emerald eyes flashed challengingly and Loki straightened his posture. 

He licked his lips as one hand shifted, stopping just over Tony’s pounding heart. 

“Judging by your heartbeat, I’d still say you,” he replied, the corners of his mouth turning up into a slight smirk. 

Tony felt his entire body relax, the pressure of panic lifting from his chest, replaced by Loki’s surprisingly gentle touch. 

“Loki,” Tony whispered, his hands wandering further down to Loki’s hips. The cool leather of his trousers felt unbelievably soft against the palms of his hands. 

“I hope you know we have your back, too.”

“Stark-“ 

“No, listen to me. I… this is so weird to say to somebody who was punching me into the ground like a rag doll six days ago, but I am going to do my best to keep you safe. I…” Tony shook his head in frustration, unable to get the words past his tongue. 

Before he could change his mind, Tony leaned in close, pressing his lips to the surprised gods temple. Loki’s fingertips dug into the muscles of his chest as Tony traveled downward, planting gentle kisses to his cheekbone, his jaw, the very corner of his lips. 

Loki turned his head at the last minute, leaning in and kissing Tony deeply. He brought his other knee to rest on the other side of Tony’s hip, straddling him in the chair. Tony responded enthusiastically, his hands immediately moving to cup his leather clad ass. Loki let out a surprised moan into Tony’s mouth, sending a shiver down the inventors spine. 

“Loki, I-“ Tony stared, pulling back to breath. 

“Don’t say anything, Anthony,” Loki whispered against his neck, licking a stripe up his carotid artery and nipping at the spot just below his ear. The dangerous sensation was utterly thrilling and Tony had to concentrate on not grinding up against Loki like a horny teenager. 

“Oh shit,” he hissed as he dragged his hands up Loki’s back, pulling him ever closer until there was no more space between them.

Tony’s eyes snapped open as the door hinges creaked, meeting the resigned gaze of Clint. He didn’t look surprised as much as utterly dead behind the eyes and done with his situation.

“Ok,” he groaned monotonically. “If you guys can stop sucking face for a sec, we need to go stop Amora from destroying San Francisco. Doc is opening the portal in less then a minute.”

Loki dismounted with no real shame, turning slightly toward Clint. A green glow spread across his body, his familiar black leather armor lined with green forming over his clothes. The long tails of the overcoat fluttered behind him, though there was no wind. He waved a glowing hand over his forehead, a golden horned headpiece reminiscent of his old helmet forming. 

“What are we waiting for?” Loki said challengingly, brushing past Clint as he walked out the door. 

Clint glanced over to Tony as he stood from the armchair, very pointedly not looking down past his shoulders. 

“I’d suggest a cold shower, but we don’t have the time,” he said, moving toward the door. 

“No need. Your face did the trick,” Tony called after him as he followed, snorting at the middle finger aimed at him. 

He took in a deep breath as he made his way outside, pressing in and twisting his arc reactor. His suit formed along the under armor in a comfortingly familiar way, his faceplace locking down and his HUD activating. 

“Friday, pull up the news feed,” he said as he stood before his teammates, his eyes finding Loki out of habit. 

The news feed of Amora popped up in the corner of the HUD and Tony analysed the scene. 

“She’s still in the same place. Strange, you need to open a portal in front of the Transamerica Pyramid.”

“She’s waiting for us. This feels like a trap,” Loki said, his brow furrowed as he looked to Steve. 

“Whatever she throws at us, we’ll be ready for,” Steve said as he secured his shield to his arm. “Tony, you and I will go through first. Loki, you go through with Nat and Bucky flanking you. Sam and Clint will follow behind with Strange the last one through. Is everyone clear?”

The group nodded, every expression one of utter determination. With one final nod from Steve, Strange opened a wide portal with San Francisco on the other side. Tony and Steve advanced, stopping just at the threshold. 

“It’s been an honour, Tony,” Steve said, staring straight ahead. Tony smiled behind his helmet, bringing a hand up to pat the taller man on the shoulder. 

“Same to you, Steve.”

Without another word, they stepped through. Terrified screams filled the crisp air as they crossed the barrier into San Francisco and Tony’s heart clenched. He heard the telltale sounds of the rest of the team appearing behind him and the woosh of the portal closing. 

“Ah. The brave heroes have arrived!” Amora greeted with a too-big grin, her teeth reflecting the poisonous green of the fire that surrounded the civilians before her. 

Tony’s eyes searched for Skurge, but the enchanted ax wielder was nowhere to be seen. 

“Where’s your Executioner? We were just getting to know each other,” he called out, fighting the urge to shrink back at Amira’s unhinged gaze. 

“Oh, Skurge? He failed me one too many times, so he was dealt with accordingly,” she announced almost proudly, the tone filling Tony with a cold sense of dread. 

“Let them go, Amora,” Steve ordered, motioning to the shivering huddled civilians. “They’re innocent.”

“No one is innocent,” Amora spat poisonously, her acid green magic engulfing both hands as her mood seemed to shift.

“Now step aside, mortal,” Amora demanded, glaring past them as if they didn’t exist, her gaze fixed only on Loki. “It is not you I am after.”

Tony charged a repulsor, aiming directly at Amora. 

“If you want him, you’ll have to go through us,” Tony stated easily, locking eyes with Amora from behind his helmet. 

“Very well,” she said as she stretched out her arms, the acid green fire growing and growing until two portals appeared on either side of her. “We’ll do this your way.”

Tony could hear Loki’s sharp intake of breath behind him as Jörmungandr stepped through the portal to the left, dressed head to toe in black and dark blue scaled armour. A grimace twisted their sharp features as their ghostly blue eyes locked on to Tony. 

Through the other portal came a new figure, a very short but sturdy man with a deep red beard covered in red and gold plated armour. 

“Oh come on. She thinks she’s gonna defeat us all with just Professor Snape and Gimli?” Clint snorted. Tony glanced back to see Loki staring dead ahead at the two with a look of vague horror. He looked somehow several years younger, like a child staring into the face of an old familiar monster. 

With a deadly smirk, Amora brought her hands together and combined the two portals into one, stepping backwards toward it. 

“Jörmungandr, Fafnir, kill them all but save Loki for me. I want to watch the light leave his eyes by my own hand,” she commanded, disappearing through the portal which closed behind her. 

“This shouldn’t take long,” Sam said confidently as Jörmungandr and Fafnir began to advance on them slowly. 

“Sam, take Clint and find some high ground. Nat, you and Bucky go for Fafnir, the rest of us will go for Jörmungandr,” Steve rattled off, raising his shield readily. 

“Captain,” Loki said, his voice uncharacteristically unsteady. “I believe you will want to rethink your plan.”

Steve opened his mouth to reply when suddenly Jörmungandr’s entire form lit up a blinding blue. Fafnir followed closely behind, his light golden. 

Tony could hardly breath, watching with open-mouthed horror as their figures began to mutate and grow. 

Jörmungandr’s body elongated, their limbs absorbing into their growing form as the scales from their armor spread and became one with their skin. Their angular face morphed into the visage of a great serpent, fangs as long as a mans leg emerging from their mouth. 

Fafnir in turn sprouted monstrous wings as he grew to the same height as his fellow, horns shooting forth from his skull, dagger sized spikes continuing a line down his spine, ending at a scaled tail. His armoured underbelly began to simmer and glow, the magma-like substance under his hide traveling up the long span of his serpentine neck until it reached the top. He opened his horrifying maw, breathing fire into the sky above like a beast from a storybook. 

“Holy shit,” Bucky whispered from beside a stone-faced Loki. Tony tried to speak, to say something stupid, to make a dumb joke like he always did, but he couldn’t make a sound. 

At the same moment Jörmungandr lifted their head to the sky and screeched like something straight out of Tony’s nightmares, the fire surrounding the civilians engulfed them before suddenly going out. The people previously huddled together in terror turned to face the Avengers, their eyes glowing green. 

Tony opened his mouth, finally able to form words. 

“So this was a trap.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait. I’m gonna be honest, I became so suddenly uninspired in the middle of writing this. I wrote and rewrote the end of this chapter over ten times and was just never totally happy with it. 
> 
> The next chapter is in the works. Thank you so much for your patience and, once again, I’m sorry. 
> 
> ~Cynical


	12. Chapter 12

“So, does anyone else see the dragon and the giant snake, or is that just me?” Barton asked from beside Sam. 

Loki barely registered his words. His heart raced as he stared up at the monsters of his childhood; creatures he recalled hearing stories of during rowdy feasts when he was young. He remembered how Thor and their friends would pretend to hunt the mighty Dragon Fafnir, relying on Loki’s illusions for their games. 

He managed to shake himself from his thoughts just as Fafnir reared back on powerful hind legs, fire bursting forth from his jowls toward the group. Loki’s body moved seemingly by itself, pushing through Captain Rogers and Stark to stand in front of them, his hands flying up and creating a translucent green barrier that wrapped around the entire team like a bubble of safety. 

The impact of the fire against the surface of the barrier was earth shatteringly loud, the blinding light filtering through reflecting an eerie green glow across the Avengers. 

“We need to find Amora! She can’t keep up an enchantment on such a large scale if she can’t concentrate!” Loki yelled over the unbearable crackling and hissing of the Dragon’s breath.

“These monsters are Amora’s doing?” Sam shouted back, covering his goggles against the brightness. 

“No, the Civilians are; she’s taken away their free will and their self preservation. Those two however are very real,” Loki replied, his hands shaking with the effort to hold his ground. 

“Sam,” Rogers said, his own shield expanding as he dropped into a fighting stance, ready to charge. “Search the area for Amora. She wouldn’t have gone far.”

Sam nodded, his wings shooting out of their pack as he squatted slightly. With a deep breath, Loki focused his energy as precisely as he could. He shouted as the barrier blasted outward in an explosion of green energy, sending Fafnir off balance. 

He roared as Sam took flight, disappearing into the clouds. 

Fafnir righted himself, nostrils flaring in rage. He spread his massive wings, the sheer force of the air from the motion sending a few of the civilians to the ground.

“He’s going to try and follow. We need a distraction!” Natasha stated. 

Before Loki could blink, Stark was in the air, soaring toward the dragon.

“Hey Smaug! Leaving so soon? The party’s just getting started,” Stark called out, flying in a loop around the dragons face.

Loki ignored the panic that gripped his heart as Stark distracted Fafnir, locking eyes with Jörmungandr as the enormous serpent regarded him. 

“Strange, make sure Stark doesn’t get himself killed. Barton, I’m in need of your help. I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Barton stepped forward to stand beside him as Strange focused his energy on Stark and Fafnir. 

“I’ll need to find some high ground,” Barton said, gripping his bow tightly. 

Loki reached out, placing his hand on the archers shoulder. 

“What the fu-“

His protests were cut off as they teleported in a flash of green, landing on the rooftop of a nearby Vietnamese restaurant. 

“-uck!” Barton gasped out, his face one of utter horror. 

“I know you’re part of the team now, but if you ever do that again I’ll-“

Loki teleported back to the ground, summoning his daggers with a flick of his wrists. 

_ “Jackass” _ , Clint grumbled over the comlimk. 

Loki ignored him, locking eyes with Jörmungandr challengingly. The serpent smiled coldly, their enormous body slithering across the ground toward him. 

“Nat, Bucky, come with me. We’re going to keep those civilians away from the main fight,” Captain Rogers ordered just behind Loki. 

“Don’t let them get too close to you either, Captain. They have no qualms with tearing you apart even if it kills them,” Loki warned, gripping the handles of his blades determinedly. 

With a nod, Captain Rogers ran off with Romanov and Barnes. 

Loki reached up to his earpiece, pressing the button to turn it on. 

“Barton, when you have a shot aim for the eyes,” he instructed. His daggers materialised in his waiting hands as Jörmungandr roared.    
  
Overhead, Stark flew about Fafnir’s head, sending concentrated blasts with repulsor beams that seemed to be bouncing off of his scales. From the ground, Strange took a more defensive position, making sure to keep Stark as far away from the dragon’s fire as possible. 

Just in front of the towering structure Stark had called the Transamerica Pyramid, Rogers, Romanov, and Barnes were raising their guard as the Civilians advanced.    
  
Jörmungandr looked down at Loki, their voice ringing in his head though they didn’t appear to be speaking.    
  
“I will rend you limb from limb, Odinson. You will choke on your agony as you beg for death. You will pay for the actions of your father.”   
  
“For the rest of my life,” Loki answered easily, swiftly dodging as Jörmungandr lunged toward him. He rolled on his shoulder, jumping to his feet with his daggers raised at the ready. The enormous Serpent hissed, opening its mouth where, in the back of its throat, an orb of swirling liquid began to bubble and grow.

Jörmungandr let out a shriek, blasting out a jet of highly pressurised water aimed directly at Loki. 

Loki summoned a magical barrier just in time, the impact of the jet pushing him back before it dissipated. He advanced further, dodging a swipe from Jörmungandr’s thick tail as Barton began to fire carefully aimed arrows. 

The beast hissed angrily as an arrow pierced through the hard scales on their side, drawing Fafnir’s attention. 

Loki met Stark’s gaze for a split second before Iron Man charged his repulsors and fired a few times at Fafnir’s back. The Dragon roared in anger, his attention captured once more as he continued to snarl and spit fire at Stark. 

Loki snapped back to himself all at once as Jörmungandr roared deafeningly. His eyes widened and he dove out of the way just as a pressurised jet of water shot forth, taking a chunk out of the pavement where he had been standing. He glanced back as the concrete began to sizzle and dissolve.

_ “Acid breath?! You’ve gotta be shitting me,”  _ Barton exclaimed over the com as Loki rose.  _ “What the fuck is wrong with Asgard?” _

“Much more than can be described in one sitting,” Loki said, grunting as he ducked another swing from the giant tail. In a flash of green, he summoned three doubles identical to himself. “Now hit the damn thing!” all four shouted in tandem. 

Jörmungandr hissed angrily as the four Loki’s spread out, all twirling their matching daggers with a challenge in their eyes. 

The serpent shrieked, striking out with their enormous head. Fangs as long as broadswords flashed, clamping down on one of the doubles. Jörmungandr hissed as the double burst into green smoke before vanishing into thin air. 

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Loki threw up his hands, green light appearing like a thick band over Jörmungandr’s head. The serpent thrashed under the magical restraint, but Loki clenched his teeth and held fast, keeping them pinned. 

“Now, Barton!” Loki yelled, hearing an arrow whiz past his head not a second later. 

Jörmungandr screeched in pain as the arrow made its mark in their left eye. 

_ “Yes!”  _ Barton exclaimed. 

At Jörmungandr’s cry, Fafnir’s attention was once again drawn. The great dragon landed with an audible thud, the concrete crumbling beneath his claws. His eyes locked on to Loki and he roared, the sheer depth and volume of it shaking the leaves off of nearby trees. 

Stark charged his repulsors, firing off a few rounds that hit all along Fafnir’s spine, but the Dragon had eyes only for Loki. 

Jörmungandr opened their maw, steam escaping as acid bubbled up to the surface. Loki held his ground, his jaw set in determination and his arms shaking with the effort of keeping the serpent pinned. 

_“Loki, move!”_ yelled Stark, his tone laced with panic. 

Loki concentrated his power into a razor sharp edge, bearing down on Jörmungandr with a grunt of effort. He could feel the magical bond cutting into the thick scaled skin. He ignored the sound of heat building in Fafnir’s throat as the Dragon inhaled deeply. He ignored the urgent voices of his teammates.  

He almost had it. 

Loki stumbled in shock as he suddenly appeared 20 feet behind Fafnir just as the dragon breathed a wave of fire, melting the concrete where he had stood. He glanced around until his eyes met Strange’s, the earth Sorcerer lowering his hands with an almost guilty look. 

“Why did you do that,” Loki hissed. “It was almost dead!”

“So were you,” Strange shot back. 

Loki opened his mouth to growl back an argument when Wilson’s voice chimed in over the comlink. 

_ “I found Amora! She on top of the Alcatraz Island Lighthouse!” _

“What are her coordinates?” Strange demanded. 

_“37.8262° N, 122.4222° W,”_ Sam  answered. 

Strange nodded, his fingers creating golden runes with precise movements. 

_“Heading back to the main fight now,”_ Sam finished. 

Loki’s eyes flickered over to Jörmungandr as the great Serpent’s head rose. The cut in their neck was prominent, blood seeping down the shimmering scales. 

Fafnir swiveled his own monstrous head around to search for Loki, roaring as Stark hit him with a round of bullets from his shoulder mounted anti-personnel guns. 

“Incoming,” Strange said over the din. 

Loki watched as at the same time Sam sped through the air to circle Jörmungandr, a portal opened several feet above them. Loki resummoned his daggers and fell into a ready stance as a blur of green and blonde hurtled out from the portal. 

Amora landed on her feet, stumbling only slightly. Her unhinged gaze met Loki’s and she bared her teeth like an animal, summoning her golden staff. 

“Tell me, when did your loyalties shift, mortal?” she spat at Strange, her voice carrying over the gunfire as Stark, Barton, Sam, and Barnes kept Fafnir and Jörmungandr at bay. 

“I had no loyalty towards you to begin with, Enchantress,” Strange answered easily, creating a rope of golden magic that sparked and hissed with energy.

Amora growled as she raised her staff, swinging it down at Loki. Strange caught the blow with his line of magic, twisting the rope around the staff and holding it. Amora dematerialised the staff at the same moment that she opened a portal on the ground, swinging her leg out and landing a hard kick to Strange’s abdomen, sending him through the portal and closing it. 

Loki watched as the portal re-opened about 60 feet in the air, Strange hurtling out of it. 

_ “Strange!”  _ Rogers yelled over the com as he ducked a swing from an enchanted civilian. Loki let out a long breath as Sam swooped in and grabbed the descending Sorcerer, lowering him to the ground safely. 

Loki turned his attention back to a scowling Amora. He advanced as the staff appeared once more in her hands. She grit her teeth in anger, the end of the staff glowing acid green as she jabbed it toward him. Loki dodged the strike, sliding on his knee and springing up to stand behind her.

Amora spun with a snarl, managing to slam the butt of her staff into Loki’s cheekbone, sending him to the ground. 

Loki hissed in pain, his hands igniting with green fire. 

“Be careful not to tire your magic out, Liesmith,” Amora teased through clenched teeth, swinging the pointed end of her staff. Loki rolled out of the way, the staff striking the concrete and sending sparks flying. 

“Being without it for as long as you had, using it so liberally is quite risky.”

Loki rolled backward over his shoulder, landing on one knee and aiming a blast of green fire at Amora. She swirled her staff in front of her, dispersing the flames with a flourish. 

Loki just barely managed to duck a swing from the staff, stumbling over uneven ground as Amora continued to advance. 

Loki’s retreat was halted as his back hit the stone wall of the towering building. Amora grinned like a cat cornering a rat, raising her staff to press the blade against Loki’s throat. 

“After everything you’ve done; every lie, every betrayal, I will relish watching the light leave your eyes,” Amora spat, her grin positively manic. 

“This isn’t a victory yet, Witch,” Loki snapped, his voice raspy from the pressure of the blade increasing. 

“Isn’t it?” Amora chuckled, raising her staff, ready to strike. 

Amora paused at a sound from above, the smile disappearing from her red smudged lips. A shadow fell over them and the ground shook as something landed heavily behind Amora.

“Loki good. Blonde lady bad,” said the Hulk as he reeled back and slammed his fist into Amora’s side. She screamed as she went flying across the pavement, slamming into the wall of the Vietnamese restaurant Clint was standing on top of. 

Barton whistled over the com.

“I never thought I’d be glad to see you,” Loki gasped out, rubbing his aching neck as he glanced up into the sky. He couldn’t hold back a grin at the shape of the arc appearing through the clouds, the hatch open releasing armed Asgardians onto the battlefield.

“Loki!” called a familiar voice that filled Loki with such relief he could’ve cried. 

Thor dropped down beside the Hulk, sword in hand, hurrying to Loki. 

“Thor. I-“ Loki’s words were cut off as Thor pulled him into a tight hug. 

“I thought I’d lost you again,” he whispered into Loki’s hair. Loki felt his throat tighten as tears threatened to spill. 

“Loki! The civilians!” Rogers called over the com. Loki pushed away from Thor and turned to face the Captain, taking in the sight of the green glow in each civilians eyes fading. 

“The enchantment is broken. They must be evacuated!”

Rogers and Strange sprung into action, evacuating the dazed civilians as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Asgardians in turn surrounded Jörmungandr and Fafnir, weapons aimed threateningly. Fafnir spat fire in warning as he backed away, Jörmungandr following suite.

“How touching. A brotherly reunion,” Amora ground out with a look of disgust, dusting rubble off of her armour. 

“Amora. Take your monsters and admit defeat. You are far outnumbered,” Thor demanded, his booming voice echoing across the makeshift battlefield. 

“Outnumbered, am I?” she shot back. 

With a shout, she slammed her staff into the ground, her entire form glowing a sickly green. 

“ᛁ ᛋᚢᛗᛗᛟᚾ ᚠᛟᚱᛏᚺ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᚱᚨᚢᚷᛖᚱ ᚲᛟᛗᛖ ᚢᚾᛞᛖᚨᛞ ᚨᚱᛗᚤ ᚨᚾᛞ ᚨᛁᛞ ᛗᛖ ᛁᚾ ᛗᚤ ᚡᛁᚲᛏᛟᚱᚤ”

Her chanting seemed to echo through the air as cracks formed from where her staff struck the ground. The stench of rotting flesh filled the air as figures emerged from the cracks, forcing their way through the pavement. 

“The Drauger,” Thor said, his form tensing at the dreadful sight as undead ripped forth from the earth. 

Loki felt his breath stop short as Thor placed a bracing hand on his shoulder. 

“Shit.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that took longer then anticipated. Writing this sequence was so difficult. I must have written and rewritten nearly every paragraph at least 3 times. 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one is in the works! 
> 
> ~Cynical


	13. Chapter 13

Tony felt as if he were trapped in some sort of fever dream. There he was, hovering 50 feet in the sky, fighting an actual Dragon while his teammates below fought a deranged Witch and a Sea Serpent that spat acid. 

Bruce Banner in his mean green fighting machine form had just dropped out of the sky to join the fight after being MIA for two years, followed closely behind by the now one eyed God of Thunder and approximately 200 very angry and armed Asgardians. 

Now suddenly there was an army of undead ripping up from the ground and Tony’s only source of comfort in all of this was the God of Mischief who’d literally beaten him into the ground a few days prior. Tony was honestly at a loss. This really wasn’t the way he saw his life going in college. 

_ “Ok, what the fuck are  _ they _? Asgard has Zombies, now?!”  _ Clint exclaimed, his voice growing progressively higher. 

Tony couldn’t think of a single witty thing to say in response, staring in horror as the battlefield filled with those undead creatures. 

_ “The Drauger,” _ he vaguely heard Thor say over Loki’s earpiece, followed by a whispered curse from Loki himself and a bright flash as Amora teleported across the battlefield. 

Jörmungandr let out an ear piercing shriek. Strange stepped forward and created what Tony could only call a whip of golden magic, facing the serpent with a determined gaze. Natasha and Barnes stood beside him at the ready. 

Fafnir roared into the sky, capturing Tony’s attention. The Hulk roared back without hesitation, charging toward the dragon. Asgardians dove out of his path.

“Woo!” Tony shouted almost gleefully, his energy suddenly renewed. He swooped down, resuming fire at Fafnir as the Hulk slammed into the dragon’s side. 

Fafnir slashed at the Hulk with his enormous claws, drawing an enraged growl that carried over the firing of Tony’s “Shoulder Angel”. 

From where he was, Tony glanced over the entire battlefield. Barnes and Natasha worked together seamlessly, leading Jörmungandr in circles whilst Strange dealt blow after blow, all managing to avoid those deadly blasts of acid. 

In the main skirmish against the Drauger, Thor lead his fellow Asgardians beside Steve. Sam assisted from the air with Clint firing shot after carefully aimed shot from afar. 

Tony’s eyes searched for Loki for only a moment before spotting him as he appeared in a flash of green beside Thor, hurling a knife at a nearby Draugr with deadly accuracy. 

He was jolted back to reality as a swipe from Fafnir’s tail sent him crashing into the side of a building. With a groan, he pulled himself free from the drywall, soaring right back into the frey. 

“Friday, divert 35% power to thrusters,” Tony said as he formed a shield. With the added boost, he slammed the shield into Fafnir’s neck. The Dragon stumbled at the impact, his claws slashing about in the air around Tony as if trying to find him. 

The Hulk landed several audible punches to Fafnir’s side and back, all the while shoving him backwards with all his might. The Dragon pushed back, digging his claws into the concrete and refusing to budge. 

Tony let his eyes wander back to Loki, once again taking a moment to find him before spotting him fighting alongside a yellow eyed Asgardian with dreads and a fierce expression. 

Loki dodged and weaved through the battlefield with the grace and strength of someone with centuries of training, taking down the undead soldiers one after the other. He seemed to be making his way slowly toward Amora as she oversaw the chaos like some sort of puppet master. Watching him fight, Tony had the fleeting thought that he was especially glad Loki was on their side now. 

Green eyes met his as if the god could sense his gaze and Tony’s pulse raced even faster. Hearing his name in an urgent tone broke him from his reverie. 

_ “Stark!”  _ Loki yelled over the com.  _ “Look out!” _

Tony had no time to react as Fafnir beat his enormous wings and took flight, the sheer force of the air sending Tony backwards. He stabilised himself just in time to avoid careening through the him-shaped hole in the side of the building he’d previously been tail whipped through. 

With an utterly inhuman sound, the Hulk rushed forward and jumped, grabbing Fafnir’s tail and yanking him down. Tony followed suit, raining down a steady barrage from his repulsors as Fafnir thrashed violently to try and free himself. 

With another mighty pull from the Hulk, Fafnir was grounded. That did however mean that Tony was now face to face with the beast, hardly 10 feet of space separating them. 

Tony watched in utter horror as that red magma rose from Fafnir’s belly and up his neck before he opened his maw and filled Tony’s vision with flames. 

The suit heated up quickly, sweat beading Tony’s brow inside his helmet. His arms, still outstretched from firing his repulsors, began to well and truly burn. He could hear nothing but the roaring of fire, could see nothing but the vibrant oranges, yellows, and reds of the dragon’s breath. The pain was slowly becoming unbearable, but he couldn’t move. 

The sensation was so utterly different from being stranded in a dead suit in outer space. Whereas that had been cold and quiet, this was scorching and deafening. 

All at once, the fire was gone, and the intense and excruciating heat with it. Tony opened his eyes; he hadn’t remembered closing them. Fafnir roared in rage as the Hulk slammed into him, effectively driving him back a few feet. 

With an enraged yell, the Hulk jumped into the air, clasping his fists together over his head and bringing them down like a warhammer on Fafnir’s chest. 

The Dragon let out an ear piercing shriek as it was sent directly into a particularly sharp modern art display, the tallest spike of the abstract sculpture piercing through him like a lance. 

Wings crumpled and the heavy tail hit the ground with a thud. 

Fafnir was dead. 

………

Loki watched the dragon go down with his heart in his throat. He took in a deep breath, the cold dread from watching Stark engulfed in flames replaced once again by adrenalin as he continued to fight his way towards Amora. 

_ “Tony, are you alright?”  _ Barton inquired. 

_ “Yeah. A little singed, but I’m alive. I’m heading to you, Strange.” _

Loki barely registered Strange’s response as he locked eyes with Amora. She looked genuinely panic stricken at the loss of Fafnir, her eyes shifting from Loki’s to glance around the battlefield. 

In a flash of green, she disappeared from her spot, reappearing at the very top of the Transamerica Pyramid. Loki grit his teeth as he tried to teleport after her but only succeeded in going about 30 feet back. His grip on his magic was weakening. 

His gaze snapped to Strange as the man spoke over the com. 

_ “Stark, keep up the attacks on Jörmungandr. I‘m going after Amora.” _

As he spoke, he opened a golden portal just in front of him. Loki didn’t hesitate. 

He sprinted the short distance to Strange, running and jumping through the portal before the other man could. Strange moved to follow but was overwhelmed by the Drauger, forcing him to close the portal behind Loki. 

Loki stepped through the other side, eye to eye with Amora on top of the tower. The Enchantress gave him a deadly smirk, twirling her staff around her hand. 

“So it’s come down to this,” she hissed, the frantic excitement clear in her voice. 

_ “Loki, are you crazy?! What the hell are you doing?” _ Stark exclaimed over the com, his voice positively panicked. 

Loki ignored him, folding his hands primly behind his back and returning the expression. 

“So it has, Witch. Have you prepared your final words?” he teased, feeling a pang of satisfaction as Amora’s eye twitched. 

_ “Loki! Get down from there! You can’t take her alone while your magic is still recovering!”  _ Stark urged. 

Loki grit his teeth, pulling the earpiece out of his ear and dropping it off the side of the tower. 

“So?” he said, opening his arms wide. 

Amora lunged at him with a screech, swinging the pointed end of her staff. He caught it just before it collided with his side, yanking Amora forward by it. 

She twisted out of his grasp, using the momentum to kick him hard in the gut, sending him back a few steps towards the edge of the spire. In a flash, he teleported to a spot just behind Amora, summoning his daggers. 

She turned on her heel, blocking a strike with her staff while Loki pushed back. They locked eyes as they tried to force each other back. Loki grit his teeth as Amora’s eyes flashed, the bright green depths almost swirling like a lazy whirlpool. 

_ ‘Loki,’  _ she hissed in his mind’s eye.  _ ‘Lay down your weapons and stop this foolish fight. I know you must be tired. Give in, my darling.’ _

Loki shook himself, the voice fading as he glared at the Enchantress. 

“That old trick will never work on me again,” he ground out, grunting with effort as he used his daggers to shove her back by her staff.

She looked almost indignant as she stumbled back, the green glow of her eyes vanishing. Before she could say a word, Loki teleported, appearing right beside her.

Amora moved to block him but he was too fast, managing to slash at her side. She hissed in pain, holding her staff aloft and chanting a spell when Loki teleported once again. 

He reappeared behind her, kneeing her hard in the middle of her back and sending her flailing forward. Her staff hit the ground and vanished into a cloud of green as she righted herself, turning to face Loki but stopping abruptly as the blade of his dagger touched against her throat. 

“Have mercy,” she said without losing a beat, her eyes pleading. “Have we not made great allies in the past?”

“Perhaps we had, but that’s all over now,” Loki answered. 

“So you would kill me; the one remaining Asgardian Sorcerer? The only surviving source of old magic?”

“Gladly,” Loki stated, poised to strike when a yell caught his attention. 

“TONY!” called Captain Rogers as Stark was caught by Jörmungandr’s powerful jaws. Enormous fangs closed on him like prison bars, sending a spike of fear through Loki. For a moment he could swear his eyes met Stark’s through the man’s helmet. 

A sharp burning pain radiated through his body, centering in on his gut. He felt the thick ooze of blood from the wound. Amora smiled at him and his entire body felt cold.

Loki’s eyes went wide, his chest heaving as his breaths stuttered out unevenly. Amora leaned in much too close, her red smeared lips brushing the shell of his ear. He could feel her savage grin even as she spoke.    
  
“It’s over. In your moment of weakness for that mortal, you’ve lost everything,” she hissed, running her fingertips along his chest as she moved back to stare into his eyes.    
  
All at once, she pressed her hand into the centre of Loki’s sternum, yanking the knife out and shoving him backwards.    
  
Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he lost his footing, free falling for only a moment before his shoulder connected with the steep slope of the spire. He slid down the entire 200 foot pyramid, landing with a strangled cry on the ledge and skidding across it to the very end.    
  
He heard screams below as he held on for dear life, his hands scrambling for purchase on the smooth concrete. He tried to teleport, but he couldn’t budge. 

This was it. 

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but I didn’t want this to take any longer then it already had. 
> 
> You guys have been awesome and very patient, and I’m eternally grateful for that! I’m predicting we have one chapter to go, and perhaps an epilogue afterwards? I don’t know. Stay tuned!
> 
> ~Cynical


	14. Chapter 14

Loki struggled to keep his grip on the sloped ledge, planting his foot against the side of the smooth concrete and pulling himself up with no little effort. His wound burned horribly as he managed to pull himself up and roll onto his back, gasping for breath. 

His eyes immediately searched for Stark, catching sight of him as he struggled to escape Jörmungandr. Barnes, Romanov, and Strange all took on the serpent, trying desperately to get to him. Loki truly regretted removing his earpiece at that moment. 

With a groan of pain, Loki carefully rose. His footing was unsure on the smooth slope, his entire body shaking with adrenaline as Amora appeared before him. 

“You know what I hadn’t realised until now?” Amora inquired in a sing songy tone, twirling her blade between her fingers. 

“The moment you’re dead, I will truly be unchallenged for the title of the greatest Sorcerer in the Nine Realms.”

Loki let out a breathy laugh, his hand pressed against his wound. 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Remember, Strange  _ has _ managed to outsmart you multiple times.”

Amora’s cocky expression vanished instantly at that, her hand shaking as it tightly gripped the hilt of her blade. 

“Oh?” she said dangerously, very slowly approaching him like a jungle cat stalking prey. 

“After I take care of you for good, he’ll be next. Or perhaps I should kill your Iron Man first.”

Without hesitating, Loki charged at Amora, blocking her sudden strike by grabbing her wrist and twisting hard. She shouted in pain, dropping her blade as her arm gave several pops.

Loki stumbled forward as Amora teleported away, reappearing behind him and slamming her heel into the small of his back. His chest hit the concrete and he choked on a shout as his wound was jarred. He managed to roll onto his back, but was pinned under Amora’s boot.

“Why do you continue to fight?” she said as she stomped hard on his chest, digging her heel in. “You’re weak, pathetic, powerless. You-“

Amora’s words died on her tongue as a screech sounded from the battlefield below. Stark had escaped from Jörmungandr, charging a blast from his arc reactor and firing it into the back of the serpents throat. Jörmungandr swayed back and forth, acid oozing from the hole blasted in the back of their neck. 

The enormous serpent collapsed, concrete crumbling under their body. The blue fire in their eyes faded and Jörmungandr was dead, leaving only Amora and her conjured undead army.

“NO!” Amora screamed, sounding utterly pained as she stared down at her fallen comrade. With a poisonous look, Amora turned her gaze to Loki, her shaking hands engulfed in acid green light. She raised her hands with a shout of rage, poised to strike when she was suddenly blasted backward into the side of the pyramid by a ray of blue light. 

Loki let out a shaky breath as Stark landed in front of him, his arms outstretched. 

“Surprise,” he said by way of greeting as Amora dragged herself out of the rubble. 

“You ok, Bambi?” Stark shot back toward Loki, his tone as cocky as ever. 

Loki nodded, pushing himself to his feet. 

“Get out of here, Stark. I can handle this,” he said, his breaths coming out unevenly. 

“Shut up, Loki,” Stark replied with no real malice, standing protectively between him and Amora as the Enchantress stared at them with bared teeth. 

“Too many times have you ruined my plans, you whelp,” she spat, the glow returning to her balled up fists. “You will suffer for your indiscretions!”

Stark laughed genuinely. “Promise?” he said. 

Loki watched seemingly in slow motion as Amora turned her gaze from Stark to him and blasted a beam of acid green aimed directly at him. 

Stark slammed his hand against his arc reactor and suddenly his suit was rippling off of him in separated scaled pieces, the nanites engulfing Loki instead, leaving Stark in his under armour. The blast connected, sending Loki stumbling back a few steps and clutching his side. 

“Stark, no!” he cried out as Amora gripped the inventor by his newly bared throat, lifting him off the ground. 

Blinding light of a sickly gold enveloped Stark and he was gone in a flash. 

“NO!” Loki yelled, tears stinging his eyes from behind the faceplate. Without a single thought, his hands shot up. His anger seemed to channel itself, the repulsors fading from blue to a brilliant green. 

They fired rapidly at Amora, the Enchantress frantically throwing up feeble magical shields, but the repulsor blasts only got faster and faster. 

Amora screamed as one connected with her thigh, sending her onto her back. Loki ceased fire, commanding the nanites to bare his hand. He gripped Amora by the throat, dragging her off of the ground and slamming her into the already crumbled side of the spire. 

“Loki,” she breathed, ghostly pale and shivering in fear. “Please.”

“You have made the gravest of mistakes in making me your enemy, Witch. Now you will pay. You will do no harm to anyone ever again,” Loki spat as his body was engulfed in a golden light.

Amora opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream as golden fire spread from Loki’s hand, enveloping her form. Runes appeared on her eyelids and suddenly she could not open her eyes. 

More appeared on her throat and suddenly her scream went totally silent. 

The golden glow dimmed and Loki released Amora, numbly watching her crumble to the ground and curl in on herself, blind and mute and unable to enchant anyone ever again.

The Drauger below crumbled to dust and the battle was truly over.

Loki felt as if every ounce of magical energy had been sucked out of him as his rage died down, replaced by utter sorrow and panic. 

Immediately his fingers went to the button he knew was located on the left wrist of the suit, pressing it in and twisting. 

The arc reactor glowed it’s usual brilliant blue and his surroundings warped out of focus. He knew not what was guiding him and he knew not where he was going. The only thing on his mind was Anthony. 

All at once everything stilled. He glanced around, finding himself in a large green field surrounded by fog as thick as pea soup. Before him was the barest outline of a cliffside with a plateau overlooking the sea protruding from the cliff face. 

He could just barely see something at the end of the plateau. His feet carried him through the impossibly green grass, his heart in his throat as a familiar presence surrounded him. 

The fog cleared to reveal the golden hued figure of his mother kneeling in the grass, her back to him as she gazed out over the sea. Anthony lay on his back before her, his eyes closed but his breathing steady. 

_ “You have done well, my son,”  _ Frigga stated, her voice echoing across the field as if carried on the very wind. 

“Mother,” Loki breathed, retracting his helmet. 

_ “He is brave, your companion.”  _ She laid an ever-gentle hand on Stark’s forehead as Loki approached, kneeling beside her. 

“Too brave,” Loki answered, the crisp sea air drying his tears just as his mother would have.

Frigga smiled softly, turning to face Loki.

“Mother, how…” Loki trailed off, looking down at his hands. 

_ “I told you. I will always be watching over you.” _

Loki felt sudden warmth; safety. Golden light flashed and the pain in his lower abdomen was gone. 

He opened his eyes, he hadn’t remembered closing them, to see that Frigga was gone and he was in her place. He glanced down as Anthony’s eyes flickered open, soft brown meeting his sea green. 

“Loki… What…”

Without hesitating, Loki leaned down and wrapped the inventor in a tight embrace, pressing his face against the other man’s chest and just breathing. 

Stark’s arms immediately came up to enfold him, his hand tangling in Loki’s hair. 

“You idiot,” Loki whispered into the dense material of his under armour. “You absolute fool.”

“You’re welcome,” Stark answered with what Loki could only assume was a smirk.

“Loki,” he said, sitting up and holding Loki by his armoured shoulders. “We need to go back. Amora-“

“She has been dealt with. The battle is over,” Loki reassured him. “I told you I could handle it.”

Stark laughed, threading his fingers through Loki’s hair and gently pulling him closer. 

“I never doubted you.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion!
> 
> ~Cynical


	15. Epilogue

~Three Months Later~

 

Tony sat impatiently in his Audi, tapping away on his phone. The repairs for the area of San Francisco that had been affected were dirt cheap compared to most of the Avengers battles, and they were almost finished. 

He had an entire team of very annoyed officials, lead by General Ross, demanding that he reveal the location of the rogue Avengers, but he didn’t feel terribly threatened by them considering the absolute field day the press had had with the coverage of the battle. 

Footage from San Francisco took up airtime on every news station. Articles raved about Captain America’s return, Thor’s new look, and the apparent induction of a past enemy into the Avengers. 

In fact, Loki had become somewhat of a sensation. Early on magazines were stealing snaps from security camera footage and raving about ‘Thor’s gorgeous and mysterious brother’.

Then when news of Tony and Loki’s brand new relationship got out, totally Tony’s fault, they couldn’t go anywhere without cameras following their every move. Loki flourished under the attention, taking far too much pride in his numerous articles in gossip magazines and tabloids  

Tony glanced up at a sound from outside the car. The doors to the building he was parked in front of had swung open, important looking people filtering out and making their way to their own very nice cars. He smiled widely as a familiar face appeared. 

Loki walked out beside Thor, both wearing similar suits though Thor had a white shirt and red tie and Loki had a black shirt and black tie. Both were engaged in conversation with a group of officials who were writing down whatever they were saying. Green eyes flickered over to the car and somehow met Tony’s through the tinted bulletproof glass. 

With a polite nod and a wave to Thor, Loki excused himself and made his way over, opening the door and getting into the car. 

“How was your meeting, dear,” Tony asked, returning Thor’s wave before Loki closed the door. 

“Dull but promising,” Loki responded, ignoring the term of endearment as per usual. “King Harald has offered a plot of land in Norway which would be just about perfect for New Asgard. Naturally there was some arguing on behalf of Iceland but they ultimately came to an agreement which suited all parties.”

“Norway, huh. That’s quite a ways from Malibu.” Tony commented. Loki nodded, his expression almost solemn. 

“Yes, I know. But I must go help rebuild. I wouldn’t be there forever, just a few months to a year, perhaps.”

“Well, I have always wanted to see Norway. How does a new vacation home sound?”

Tony had barely gotten his sentence out when Loki pulled him into a deep kiss, cool hands on either side of his face. Tony leaned into it, placing his hand on Loki’s thigh. 

“You’re an idiot,” Loki whispered fondly against his lips. 

“I love you too,” Tony replied.

The ride home was filled with comfortable silence, Tony’s hand not leaving Loki’s thigh until he pulled into the garage.

Mischievous green eyes met his and Tony felt the increasingly familiar feeling of utter exhilaration as those lips once again crashed into his. 

His hands traveled along Loki’s lithe form, feeling along the outrageously expensive material of his suit, a gift from himself. The god purred, his hot breath ghosting over Tony’s neck. 

“Shit,” Tony breathed, dragging the silken material of Loki’s shirt up to smooth his hands along his back. 

In an instant they were in the living room, Tony stumbling slightly but catching himself on the back of the couch. Before he could voice a complaint about the sudden teleportation, Loki pulled him back in, sucking on his lower lip. 

Tony groaned, making quick work of Loki’s jacket and shirt. He kissed along the long column of Loki’s throat, nipping gently at his collarbone.

“Stop teasing, Anthony,” Loki moaned out, his fingers running through Tony’s hair. His head fell back at a particularly hard bite, the spot turning a deep purple as Tony sucked at it. 

Tony pulled back to admire his work, getting an eyeful of Loki, his black waves mussed from Tony’s hands and his cheeks flushed a pleasant shade of pink. 

With very little warning, Loki pounced like a panther, tackling Tony over the back of the couch. He straddled Tony’s hips and ground down, pulling a deep groan from Tony. 

The inventors hands gripped onto Loki’s hips, guiding him down once again. The feeling had Tony seeing stars and it wasn’t very long before he was rutting against the other man. 

The sound of panting filled the air as their pace increased, the couch moving with them. Not for the first time, Tony had the thought of how lucky he was to have crash landed with this man, how lucky he was that they’d come to trust and even care for eachother. 

With a gasp, Tony hit his climax, riding it out until Loki came moments later. Tony gently pulled Loki down, pressing their slightly damp foreheads together as they breathed in tandem. 

“You’re the only person that can make me cum in my pants like a horny college student,” Tony laughed, pressing a kiss to Loki’s cheek. 

Loki made a small satisfied noise in reply, leaning into the kiss. Tony grinned at that, wrapping his arms around Loki’s waist.

“Hey Loki.”

“Hmm?” Loki answered softly, resting his head against Tony’s chest contentedly. 

“You still owe me a new coffee table.”

“I love you too, Stark.”

………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> Oh my god. It’s finally done. 
> 
> This is the longest story I’ve ever written and I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking with it through the writers block and everything. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has commented. You all really inspired me to keep going and keep improving and I couldn’t be more grateful!
> 
> Thank you all for reading and have a lovely day!
> 
> ~Cynical


End file.
